LIFE-SIZED sculptures of minotaurs and lady hares have started popping up around Salisbury Cathedral.

Internationally renowned sculptor Sophie Ryder brings her gigantic works to the city as part of her exhibition Relationships, which starts on Friday, February 12.

The sculptures will be appearing on the cathedral lawn and cloisters, and The Kiss (a 20ft high arch formed by massive clasped hands) will straddle the path from the High Street Gate to the West Door.

The exhibition explores Sophie’s own family interactions and relationships, at the same time challenging us to consider how we interact with each other and our own loved ones.

Jacquiline Creswell, the cathedral’s visual arts advisor, said: “Churches have found art very effective as a way to reach out and engage the wider community. It has the power to reveal hidden meaning and transform beliefs. The visuals arts provide a shorthand through which people can absorb a message very quickly and instinctively. During the Magna Carta celebrations the art we installed played a powerful role in amplifying the values and meaning of the document.

“People are also naturally curious and as a visitor attraction art engages and inspires. Given that Sophie is well known in Europe and America we anticipate that there will be considerable interest from home and abroad in her exhibition. It is a wonderfully organic way of getting the word out about the cathedral, whilst staying true to its core values.”

Sophie will also be exhibiting at Sarum College, The Salisbury Museum and the Young Gallery in Salisbury.

The exhibition runs until July 3.