Joy Bonfield-Colombara

The dual meaning of the word ‘petrified’ is intriguing: to be so scared that one cannot move, and for organic matter like wood turning to stone over time. This is worthy of reference as it exemplifies the importance that material can have in the wider scope of language and communication. The material used to make an artwork can dictate much of its meaning. In some versions of the story of Medusa, her stare ‘prettified’ men – literally turning them to stone.

Medusa was the starting point for this body of work which lead me into looking at other female protagonists for whom 'Metamorphosis' was a central theme. These include Orlando (Virginia Woolf's satirical biography of a woman who transforms over 300 years), Sekhmet (Ancient Egyptian Lion Goddess), Queen Nanny (Jamaican national hero) and Edith (a salt cellar based on Lot's wife).

The Bronze Combs (Medusa's):

Bronze is synonymous with classical Greek sculpture, which is of central focus to my practice and previous work. Surprising the viewer in something akin to a double-take, the viewer sees the combs and instantly recognises them as social signifiers (of a certain class, race, gender etc.) and I challenge these stereotype-judgements through the material swap of plastic (ubiquitous, cheap, man-made, mass-produced, light) to bronze (weighty, eternal, natural, historically-loaded).