London, UK; March 2026 — Saatchi Gallery is to present its garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026 in collaboration with kinetic artist Lucy Gregory, garden designer Naomi Ferrett-Cohen, and supporter ING.
Created for Saatchi Gallery’s sixth collaboration with the internationally acclaimed RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the 2026 design brings together contemporary art, thoughtful planting and public participation. The project is supported by ING, whose commitment to advancing sustainable practice and supporting cultural initiatives reflects a shared belief in the value of nature, creativity and collective responsibility.
Alexandra Macmahon, Country Manager at ING said:
“We’re delighted to support Saatchi Gallery’s 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show Garden. With sustainability at the heart of what we do at ING, this collaboration powerfully brings creativity, nature and people together.”
Guests are invited to venture down the garden path into a surreal environment of interactive, anthropomorphic tree-like structures that hug the space. As visitors push the sculptures into motion, they trigger a joyful, spiralling dance that gradually settles into a playful, slapstick wobble as momentum slows. The garden celebrates the simple pleasure of gathering together outdoors such as in a park or meadow, and the positive effect nature can have on us.
Gregory was inspired by the energy and rhythm of Matisse’s The Dance, a scene depicting figures entirely lost in the moment within the landscape. She translates the painting’s iconic arabesque into a vibrant, abstract spinning choreography in steel. In Matisse’s composition, two hands have slipped apart, creating a subtle tension within the circle; here, Gregory invites the public to close the circle that Matisse left open by physically reconnecting the cartoon-like hands, reactivating the dance through touch.
The motif of the circle underpins the entire garden. The path twists, foliage unfolds and sculptural forms reveal in a sense of child-like discovery. The sculptural arms envelop, guide and usher visitors through the space. As they glide through greenery, they recall the universal memory of walking through a meadow, trailing fingers through long grasses.
Gregory explains, “Roundness operates conceptually as well as physically, interweaving themes of community, interconnection with nature and the body in the landscape.” The recent artist’s residency she took part in, entitled Body and Place, explored the body within natural settings through life drawing outdoors and through movement. “These studies became a melting pot of ideas for new kinetic figurative works situated directly in the landscape.”
Gregory’s practice upturns the traditional ‘look, don’t touch’ mentality instead, encouraging play and curiosity through interaction with the artworks. The viewer becomes the engine, activator and performer, intertwined with the work itself, as they bring the sculptures to life through participation and touch.
Inspired by mechanical toys, Victorian automatons and early animation devices, she constructs large-scale figurative ‘kinetic collages’, where abstracted ‘cutouts’ or black and white imagery are mounted on engineered steel frames. The forms move through spinning axles, swinging pendulums and subtle shifts in balance to emphasise a certain gesture, action or movement and to re-imagine the human form in, a often humorous, collision bodies and machines.
Naomi Ferrett-Cohen’s planting design brings warmth and vibrancy to the space, with a colourful palette that complements the bold backdrop. An award-winning designer working across Sussex, Surrey and London, she is known for creating naturalistic gardens with strong structure and clarity. Here, her scheme ensures that sculpture and planting sit in dynamic balance, each heightening the presence of the other.
Presented at RHS Chelsea from 19 – 23 May 2026, and realised with the support of ING, the garden offers an invitation to step into movement, to reconnect with nature and with one another, and to complete the circle together.
— ENDS —
NOTES TO EDITORS
RHS Chelsea Flower Show: 19 – 23 May 2026. For further information on RHS Chelsea and press accreditation, please contact the RHS Press Office at [email protected]
For all Saatchi Gallery press enquiries, please contact +44 (0) 20 7811 3091, or:
Amelia Okell, Head of Communications, [email protected]
Niamh Elain, Marketing & Press Executive, [email protected]
Images
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ABOUT SAATCHI GALLERY
Since 1985, Saatchi Gallery has provided an innovative platform for contemporary art. Exhibitions have presented works by largely unseen young artists, or by international artists whose work has been rarely or never exhibited in the UK. This approach has made the Gallery one of the most recognised names in contemporary art. Since moving to its current 70,000 square feet space in the Duke of York’s Headquarters in Chelsea, London, the Gallery has welcomed over 10 million visitors. The Gallery hosts thousands of school visits annually and has over 6 million followers on social media. In 2019 Saatchi Gallery became a registered charity, beginning a new chapter in its history.
www.saatchigallery.com
Registered Charity Number: 1182328 | Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 4RY
ABOUT ING
ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is: empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank’s more than 60,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 40 markets.
ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).
Sustainability is an integral part of ING’s strategy, evidenced by ING’s leading position in sector benchmarks. ING’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) rating by MSCI was affirmed ‘AA’ in July 2023. As of December 2023, Sustainalytics considers ING’s management of ESG material risk to be ‘strong’. ING Group shares are also included in major sustainability and ESG index products of leading providers Euronext, STOXX, Morningstar and FTSE Russell.
ING & Climate
Society is transitioning to a low-carbon economy. So are our clients, and so is ING. We finance a lot of sustainable activities, but we still finance more that’s not. See how we’re progressing on our climate approach.
ABOUT LUCY GREGORY
Lucy Gregory (b. London, 1994) graduated from The Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford, 2016 and The Royal College of Art, Sculpture, 2018. She creates large-scale, figurative, ‘kinetic collages’ that rely on audience participation to activate surreal mechanisms. The viewer becomes the engine, activator and performer, intertwined within the fabric of the work itself. Sculptures take inspiration from real world events, hierarchies of power or nod to the way we consume images in a post internet world.
Lucy won the Ingram Prize and her work is now part of the Ingram Collection and the People’s Choice Award for the National Sculpture Prize. She was shortlisted for the Mark Tanner Sculpture Prize and was a finalist in the UK New Artist of the Year Award at the Saatchi Gallery.
She has recently exhibited outdoors at the Artist’s Garden on top of Temple Tube Station, Bold Tendencies, Contemporary Sculpture Fulmer and the Kinetic Art Experience, California. In her recent solo show at Orleans House Gallery, she brought a large selection of her kinetic works for the first time in one space, creating a joyful celebration of colour, movement and figuration.
ABOUT NAOMI FERRETT-COHEN
Naomi Ferrett-Cohen is a planting and garden designer. Having previously worked in the care sector supporting people with mental health problems and learning disabilities, Naomi understands the importance of horticulture for human wellbeing. After attaining her RHS Level II in Horticulture, Naomi went on to train with the London College of Garden Design, gaining a Garden Design Diploma in 2015 and a Planting Design Diploma in 2016, both with Distinction. In 2018, she won a Silver-Gilt medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show for the design of A Life Without Walls garden. She has also volunteered in the gardens at Parham House. Today, Naomi proudly heads up her very own planting and garden design practice, nestled at the foot of the beautiful South Downs in Sussex.
RHS Chelsea Flower Show: 19 – 23 May 2026
18 May: Press Preview
8am-8pm, 19 – 20 May: RHS members only
8am – 8pm, 21 – 23 May: RHS members and public
5.30pm – 10pm, 22 May: (Friday Late Event) RHS members and public
8am – 5.30pm, 23 May: RHS members and public
Venue: Royal Hospital Chelsea, Royal Hospital Road, London SW3 4SR
Ticket prices vary and RHS members receive discount prices. Book here: rhs.org.uk/chelsea
ABOUT THE RHS
We’re the UK’s gardening charity, helping people and plants to grow.
Our mission is to be there on people’s lifelong journey with gardening – to bring happiness, health, stronger communities and a thriving natural world.
With 220 years of experience, we support gardeners of all ages with expert advice, community and schools projects, scientific research, professional qualifications, our five RHS Gardens, and events including the iconic RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
For more information visit www.rhs.org.uk
RHS Registered Charity No. 222879/SC038262