Perfect Imperfection - The Art of Healing
Collection of work exploring the fragility and resilience of the human condition through the violated materiality of the portrait. Inspired by the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi (the repair of broken ceramics with gold), a philosophy of seeing beauty in imperfection, Billie Bond’s work questions the tension between destruction and repair, fragility and resilience and thoughts about what it is to be human.
Billie Bond
Essex, England
50 Self-Portrait, Billie BondH184 W51 D50 cm Black stoneware, resin, gold, epoxy, steel. 50 years in the making - a monologue. The act of making, destroying and repairing demonstrates a universal metaphorical journey. The disrupted surface communicates a tension between fragility and resilience. This work sits quietly and meditatively upon its tall sturdy gilded pedestal, presenting imperfections, pain and memories - the scars of life. Embracing and accepting fate as part of what it is to be human.
Curatio, Billie BondH30 W32 D21 cm Glazed stoneware, resin, epoxy, gold powder, gold leaf.
Principles of Fortitude 1 and 2, Billie BondH43 W31 D30 (each) Glazed stoneware, resin, 24ct. A pair of Kintsugi portraits, both having opposite halves of the original glazed ceramic pieces, signifying a duality of being.
Kintsugi Head 2, Billie BondH32 W22 D15 Black stoneware, resin, epoxy, gold leaf
Kintsugi Head 1, Billie BondBlack stoneware, resin, 24ct gold leaf
Principles of Fortitude 1 (detail), Billie BondGlazed stoneware, resin, 24ct gold