The devotional rubbing shoulders with the secular, serious with strange: the new exhibition of sculpture by Peter Eugene Ball at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, fits seamlessly into the long tradition of mediaeval English churches having unusual, often idiosyncratic imagery alongside the sacred.

In Madonnas and Mad Hatters, an exhibition of over 50 sculptures, dotted between sculptures of Salome dancing, an acrobat (or fool?) balancing on one hand, a Harpy, a Water Carrier, a Celtic Warrior Boat on perilous seas, are the angel Gabriel and assorted other winged beings, Ariel, Nike and such like, and yet more angels, fallen or flying – all with driftwood wings. There are also several Madonnas, including the show’s centrepiece The Oxford Madonna.

Christ Church offers infinite sources of inspiration for the artist. Naturally, therefore, we see Alice, the Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter, making the college’s connection with Charles Dodgson; a Jonah and the Whale sculpture adding a whale to the story told in the cathedral’s famous Jonah window; and a beautiful sculpture of St Frideswide, standing for the duration of the exhibition near the shrine dedicated to Oxford’s patron saint.

Ball is renowned for this mix of quirky and religious. Born in Coventry in 1943, holding his first one-man show in London in 1967, his numerous commissions, both secular and religious, have come from the UK, Europe and America. Undoubtedly, however, he made his name with religious works in British churches – 70 major works thus far, including Winchester, Southall, and Southwark cathedrals – “almost certainly more than any other living artist,” his wife Jane said.

The Oxford Madonna is a roughly three-quarter life-size sculpture showing the Christ child sitting on his mother’s lap. Carved from two railway sleepers, it is partially covered in copper with silver floral and gold leaf decoration. Their robes are a striking ultramarine colour blending to a rich chestnut brown, and their posture with outreached arms is one of entreaty or perhaps of welcome and acceptance. Both have their eyes closed.

His works display skilful technique. “I love doing it. I do it all myself,” she says, describing how he uses found objects and often sources his wood from New Zealand where a friend collects it. Take, for instance, Waiting for Godot made from two pieces of old fence post stuck on a pedestal together, endlessly waiting... “I like to reflect the quality of the wood. The holes are where the cross pieces went,” said Ball. “I then cover the heads with pewter and hammer it on. The copper nails keep the pewter in place.”