ABOUT THE ARTIST
Italian/British. 1989
Joy BC (Joy Bonfield – Colombara) is an Artist and Goldsmith working predominantly in Noble Metals and bronze. Her work’s are often challenging pre-existing notions of precious materials and ingrained societal ideals of western female bodies in sculpture. Joy BC plays with mythologies and re-examines the fascination with the ‘Classical’.
Using ancient techniques she creates work which is evocative of both ancient Greek and Roman art. Yet, what Joy creates is an artful manipulation of form and narratives which make the pieces magnificently modern. The body of work ‘Deconstructed Classics’ are quite literally a deconstruction of western classical sculpture.
The work is emotive, socially and politically loaded. Each piece carved into existence stands to commemorate something or someone, to hero an emotion, a moment or theory.
Joy’s work has been described as both wearable artwork and miniature sculpture. Her work is currently owned by an international clientele of private collectors and she has been commissioned to create pieces for museums both in the U.K. and across the globe.
Joy, a native of London, was profoundly influenced from an early age by the artistry of her parents - her mother, a painter and lithographer, her father, a sculptor. Joy’s art education focused intensively on painting, drawing and carving, enhanced by a profound appreciation of art within historical and social contexts.
Joy BC received her undergraduate degree from the Glasgow School of Art and her M.A. from the Royal College of Art in London. She has also held two residencies in Japan. The first in Tokyo, working under the tutelage of master craftsmen Sensei (teacher) Ando and Sensei Kagaeyama, experts in Damascus steel and metal casting. She subsequently was awarded a research fellowship to Japan’s oldest school of art, in Kyoto, where she was taught the ancient art of urushi by the renowned craftsmen: Sensei Kuramoto and Sensei Sasai.
Whilst at the RCA she was awarded the TF overall excellence prize and the MARZEE International graduate prize. Shortly after her graduation in 2019 her work was exhibited in Japan and at Somerset house in London. In 2021 her work was exhibited in Hong Kong and at ‘Force of Nature’ curated by Melanie Grant in partnership with Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery.
Joy Bonfield - Colombara is currently working on a piece for the Nelson Atkins Museum in the USA and recently a piece was added to the Alice and Louis Koch Collection in the Swiss National Museum, Zurich.
CREDITS
Joy BC, Drawings & collages.
Daniel Riley, High-Definition Photographies.
Chris Rhodes, Artistic Photographies.
Ronan Mackenzie, Combs Photographies.
Olivia Rose, Portrait Photographies.
Maisie Cousins, Artistic Photographies.
Diana Eastma, Studio Photographies.
Elodie Fabbri, Identity design & Digital Art Direction.
Leo Bieber, High Definition and Artistic Photographies.
Lay theme for Wordpress. Fonts in use: Panama, Helvetica Neue.
© 2021 Joy Bonfield Colombara. All rights reserved.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Italian/British. 1989
Joy BC (Joy Bonfield – Colombara) is an Artist and Goldsmith working predominantly in Noble Metals and bronze. Her work’s are often challenging pre-existing notions of precious materials and ingrained societal ideals of western female bodies in sculpture. Joy BC plays with mythologies and re-examines the fascination with the ‘Classical’.
Using ancient techniques she creates work which is evocative of both ancient Greek and Roman art. Yet, what Joy creates is an artful manipulation of form and narratives which make the pieces magnificently modern. The body of work ‘Deconstructed Classics’ are quite literally a deconstruction of western classical sculpture.
The work is emotive, socially and politically loaded. Each piece carved into existence stands to commemorate something or someone, to hero an emotion, a moment or theory.
Joy’s work has been described as both wearable artwork and miniature sculpture. Her work is currently owned by an international clientele of private collectors and she has been commissioned to create pieces for museums both in the U.K. and across the globe.
Joy, a native of London, was profoundly influenced from an early age by the artistry of her parents - her mother, a painter and lithographer, her father, a sculptor. Joy’s art education focused intensively on painting, drawing and carving, enhanced by a profound appreciation of art within historical and social contexts.
Joy BC received her undergraduate degree from the Glasgow School of Art and her M.A. from the Royal College of Art in London. She has also held two residencies in Japan. The first in Tokyo, working under the tutelage of master craftsmen Sensei (teacher) Ando and Sensei Kagaeyama, experts in Damascus steel and metal casting. She subsequently was awarded a research fellowship to Japan’s oldest school of art, in Kyoto, where she was taught the ancient art of urushi by the renowned craftsmen: Sensei Kuramoto and Sensei Sasai.
Whilst at the RCA she was awarded the TF overall excellence prize and the MARZEE International graduate prize. Shortly after her graduation in 2019 her work was exhibited in Japan and at Somerset house in London. In 2021 her work was exhibited in Hong Kong and at ‘Force of Nature’ curated by Melanie Grant in partnership with Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery.
Joy Bonfield - Colombara is currently working on a piece for the Nelson Atkins Museum in the USA and recently a piece was added to the Alice and Louis Koch Collection in the Swiss National Museum, Zurich.
CREDITS
Joy BC, Drawings & collages.
Daniel Riley, High-Definition Photographies.
Chris Rhodes, Artistic Photographies.
Ronan Mackenzie, Combs Photographies.
Olivia Rose, Portrait Photographies.
Maisie Cousins, Artistic Photographies.
Diana Eastma, Studio Photographies.
Elodie Fabbri, Identity design & Digital Art Direction.
Definition Photographs, Leo Bieber
Lay theme for Wordpress. Fonts in use: Panama, Helvetica Neue.
© 2021 Joy Bonfield Colombara. All rights reserved.
