THE DAUGHTER OF MIGRANTS, SCULPTOR BEATRICE MAGALOTTI USES BRONZE TO EXPLORE NOTIONS OF IDENTITY AND DIASPORA.
Take us inside your work. What is it all about?
I work mainly in bronze. The exploration of the role and position of women and of “women’s work” has been a recurring theme in my practice. I reference the traditional roles of women in gathering and collecting and the largely female crafts of weaving, tapestry and embroidery. The use of organic shapes in my work creates a figurative and anthropomorphic sensibility.
What have you been working on lately?
In my latest pieces I have started to examine the theme of migration. Boats metaphorically represent the paradoxical ease and difficulty of movement and travel embodied in the experience of migration. Last year, I participated in an art residency at Gæsteatelier Hollufgård, Denmark. This afforded an ideal environment both for working and the healthy exchange of ideas between fellow residents. Arrival is one of the pieces that developed out of my residency and is part of my Migration series. As the daughter of migrants, I am keen to explore notions of identity and travel. The hand-sewn sacks and crudely stitched seams on the boat are metaphors for fragility, the act of mending clothes and patching together our lives. This work is both a celebration of migration as a new beginning and a personal protest against the way most developed countries approach migration.