New home sought for Bossy the 8ft bunny

A fine art student is looking for a forever home for an 8ft tall (2.4-metre) rabbit she made as part of her final year exhibition.

Lauren Guest made Bossy the bunny to show how objects from childhood can become "monumental symbols of importance".

But her time at Norwich University of the Arts (NUA) is ending this summer and while it sits patiently on display in an art studio, she has until mid-August to find Bossy a new home.

"I may have to take him to pieces, and that will be really, really sad," Ms Guest said.

Ms Guest scanned her favourite toy bunny from childhood to get the correct measurements so she could accurately upscale it to a giant version.

She named her creation Bossy "because I was a bossy child," she said, and had to learn to weld in order to make the bunny's individual parts.

Far from being stuffed and cuddly, he is actually hollow.

She covered a metal structure in plastic pallet wrap before topping it off with her own screen printed fabric - based on the pattern of a childhood plate.

This is one of the reasons potential new owners are being deterred, Ms Guest says.

Rather than being a real cuddly toy, Bossy is an artwork.

"Some people have reached out, but when they realise he's not stuffed they're put off," she added.

She has advertised him on Facebook Marketplace - and approached children's hospices - but because Bossy's fabric is not wipe-clean, he could be an infection hazard.

"I'd like him to be in a public space where people can enjoy him, where he can make a lot of people happy," she said.

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