Beatrice is a contemporary Australian sculptor whose work engages with a range of themes including mythology (particularly Norse and Greek) and migration.
Her work is informed by her experience as a woman. Invisible migrants, stories of travel and life journeys are poetically evoked rather than described. By refusing to engage with popular narratives of migration (notably spectacular media images of suffering individuals and groups) the artist seeks to create a space for reflective and introspective dialogues.
Beatrice uses embroidery and sewing in her work. Traces of stitching and details of textures of fabrics – traditional female responsibilities – are visible on her bronzes and ceramics. The delicate gestures of hand-crafting soft and ephemeral materials (fibre and fabric) are by a series of processes (moulding, casting, and patination) changed into hard and permanent materials (bronze and ceramics).
This work is far broader that any specific migrant situation – it is about the human condition of most of the Australian population, and a global condition that crosses the centuries, a response to food scarcity, war and economic opportunities.
Recent works have become more collaborative.
In 42 Days, 42 Boats, 42 Installations Beatrice led a collaborative response to the pandemic. It playfully circumvents our lack of global mobility by offering unexpected and serendipitous vistas and creative narratives. The photographic project celebrates the spectacular and the quotidian as the boats navigate familiar, local and exotic, distant horizons.
Other recent collaborative projects include Beatrice’s Covid-19 Postcards and A+B.
