‘A Joyful Parasite’ is a major new commission at Baltic from London-based Spanish artist, Saelia Aparicio.

The work of Saelia Aparicio really does feel unconfined with her stuff drawing on everything from science fiction to biology to bodily memory. And in ‘A Joyful Parasite’ she’s questioning ideas surrounding cohabitation, adaptation and dependency in a time of ecological urgency. Human and non-human elements forge connections between bodies and ecosystems, while mythology and folklore shape a fictional world, presenting hybrid bodies built upon semantically loaded material where what is human or not blurs. Metamorphosis and rebirth create links between animal, plant and human forms which inhabit the space.

Saelia Aparicio: A Joyful Parasite, until 1 February 2026, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, baltic.art