BEATRICE MAGALOTTI SCULPTURES
Ar st Statement
Beatrice is a contemporary Australian sculptor whose work engages with a range of themes including mythology (par cularly Norse and Greek) and migra on.
Her work is informed by her experience as a woman. Invisible migrants, stories of travel and life journeys are poe cally evoked rather than described. By refusing to engage with popular narra ves of migra on (notably spectacular media images of suffering individuals and groups) the ar st seeks to create a space for reflec ve and introspec ve dialogues.
Beatrice uses embroidery and sewing in her work. Traces of s tching and details of textures of fabrics - tradi onal female responsibili es - are visible on her bronzes and ceramics. The delicate gestures of hand-cra ing so and ephemeral materials (fibre and fabric) are by a series of processes (moulding, cas ng, and pa na on) changed into hard and permanent materials (bronze and ceramics).
This work is far broader that any specific migrant situa on – it is about the human condi on of most of the Australian popula on, and a global condi on that crosses the centuries, a response to food scarcity, war and economic opportuni es. Recent works have become more collabora ve.
In 2023 Beatrice was a par cipant in two Art Residencies; Arte Studio Ginestelle in Assisi, Italy & Kunstkollek vet 8B in Unnerud, Denmark.
In Italy she collaborated with American Ar st, Amy Caterina on A+B Project Volume 2. Beatrice first met Amy at an art residency in Iceland in 2018 and they have produced a number of collabora ve works. A+B Projects V2 was exhibited at the Art Gallery Le Logge in Assisi, 2024.
In Denmark Beatrice collaborated with Danish Ar st, Begi e Andersen, and together they produced a tex le installa on work that incorporates sound, smell and visuals. This work will be on shown in October-November 2024 in Melbourne, Australia.
During 2020, Beatrice led a collabora ve response to the pandemic, 42 Days, 42 Boats, 42 Installa ons. It playfully circumvents our lack of global mobility by offering unexpected and serendipitous vistas and crea ve narra ves. The photographic elements of the project celebrate the spectacular and the quo dian as the boats navigate familiar, local and exo c, distant horizons.
Beatrice Magalo
Prizes & Awards
2023 Valda Cuming Sculpture Award (MSWPS),
2022 Sculpture Prize, Contemporary Sculptors Associa on (CSA)
2022 Melbourne Society of Women Painters & Sculptors (MSWPS), Peer award
2021 Elsewhere & Other Places (artaviso event) Main Prize Winner
2021 Sculpture Prize, Arts Rutherglen
2020 Sculpture Prize, Contemporary Sculptors Associa on (CSA)
2020 Sculpture Prize, Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors (MSWPS)
2017 Yering Sta on, Sculpture Prize
2017 Annie Davison Oliver Award, MSWPS
Art Residencies
2023 Unnerud, Denmark (Nov-Dec)
2023 Assisi, Italy (Sept-October)
2019 Odense, Denmark
2018 Stöðvar örður, Iceland
2017 Stanley, Tasmania, Australia
Member
Contemporary Sculptors Associa on (CSA)
Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors (MSWPS)
MAVA Collec ve (Melbourne and Victorian Ar sts Inc.)
Where are women the ar sts (WATWA)
© All Rights Reserved
Contact Details:
email: beatricemagalo @bigpond.com
mobile: +61 408 055 184
instragram: @beatricemagalo art
Image on back cover Death of Dido, Bronze, 12.2 x 32 x 10.5 cm
Exhibi ons
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025 Glimpse, Alphington Studios Collec ve, Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Abbotsford Unseen, Australian Catholic University Gallery, Fitzroy
2024 I Hang My Clothes, Sol Gallery, Fitzroy
Assisi Interna onal Contemporary Art Exhibi on, Art Gallery Le Logge, Assisi, Italy
SCULPTURE NOW, CSA Member Show, Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Abbotsford Passages, West End Projects, West Melbourne Changing Perspec ves 2024, MSWPS, Victorian Ar st Society, Melbourne Sculpture Acheron 2024, Marian Rennie Gallery, Acheron Rutherglen Tasters of Art Prize, Memorial Hall, Rutherglen
2023 Changing Perspec ves 2023, MSWPS, Victorian Ar st Society, Melbourne
SCULPTURE NOW, CSA Member Show, Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Abbotsford, EMBODY – Sculpture, The Hive Gallery, Ocean Grove, Yering Sta on Sculpture Exhibi on and Awards (Finalist),
2022 SCULPTURE NOW, CSA Member Show, Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Abbotsford PORTRAY - Sculpture, The Hive Gallery, Ocean Grove
42days 42boats 42 installa ons, QVWC, Melbourne, 27 sept-14 Oct, Solo Exhibi on Changing Perspec ves 2022, MSWPS – Victorian Ar st Society, Melbourne
42days 42boats 42 installa ons, The Hive Gallery, Ocean Grove, 5-28 August 2022, Solo exhibi on 42days 42boats 42 installa ons, Ladder Art Space, Kew, 15 June – 2 July, Solo exhibi on The Seeresses, Satellite Projects Melbourne, Collingwood, 2 June- 30 June, Solo Exhibi on Yering Sta on Sculpture Exhibi on and Awards 2021 Interior, YAVA Gallery & Arts Hub, Healesville, Without Walls, Queen Victoria Women’s Centre (QVWC), Melbourne Rutherglen Tasters of Art Prize, Memorial Hall, Rutherglen 42days 42boats 42 installa ons, Various Space Gallery, Foster, Solo exhibi on
2021 Changing Perspec ves 2021, MSWPS – Virtual Exhibi on (Online 1-31 October) Solo Exhibi on, Red Gallery, North Fitzroy Sculpture on the farm, Dungog (Online 1-10 October) Elsewhere & Other Places… (Artaviso event) h ps://www.artaviso.com/elsewhere-other-places/ Life in lockdown | STAGES photography Monash Gallery of Art h ps://www.stages.mga.org.au/life-inlockdown
2021 Wollombi Valley Sculpture Fes val, Sculpture in the Vineyards (Online 1-30 September)
STUDIO 11 Owen Dixon Chambers, Melbourne Gippsland Sculpture Exhibi on, Arc Gallery, Yinnar Rutherglen Tasters of Art Prize, Memorial Hall, Rutherglen
2020 Changing Perspec ves 2020, MSWPS – Virtual Exhibi on Make a Fuss, Virtual Exhibi on, Queen Victoria Women’s Centre COVID-19 Global Quilt, www.instagram.com/covid19quilt/ Bonanza, CSA Member Show, Virtual Exhibi on
2019 Yering Sta on Sculpture Exhibi on and Awards 2019
Bonanza, CSA Member Show, Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Abbotsford
Changing Perspec ves 2019, MSWPS – Victorian Ar st Society, Melbourne
Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, Gordon Toorak Village Sculpture Exhibi on
2018 Yering Sta on Sculpture Exhibi on and Awards 2018 (Finalist)
2018 MASTERWORKS Art Exhibi on in the Vines, Swipers Gully Vineyard & Restaurant, Kangaroo Ground
Changing Perspec ves 2018, MSWPS – Victorian Ar st Society, Melbourne New Works, Red Gallery, North Fitzroy
2017 Yering Sta on Sculpture, Exhibi on and Awards 2017
Changing Perspec ves 2017, MSWPS – Victorian Ar st Society, Melbourne Glimpses, Meeniyan Art gallery, Meeniyan Recent Works, An podes, Bookshop & Gallery, Sorrento Harbour Sculpture, Woolwich, Sydney
2016 From the familiar to the unfamiliar - Cambridge Studio Gallery, Collingwood Nine Lives, Alphington Ar st- Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, Bundoora Changing Perspec ves 2016 – Malvern Ar sts’ Society, Malvern
2015 synergy, Cambridge Studio Gallery, Collingwood
2014 Herring Island Summer Arts Fes val The Darebin Art Show, Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, Bundoora
2013 Northern Lights, Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, Bundoora a number of things, Cambridge Studio Gallery, Collingwood
2023-24
ART RESIDENCY ASSISI, ITALY
In September 2023 I was one of the three ar sts at the Arte Studio Ginestelle in Assisi, Italy.
At the Arte Studio Ginestelle I worked towards A+B Projects Volume 2 with Amy Caterina, an American Ar st, we first met in Iceland in 2018 and in 2021 we produced a digital and hard copy book called A+B Projects Vol 1.
In Assisi we incorporated images not only taken in America and Australia but images taken in Italy, in par cular areas around the art residency. This residency gave me the opportunity to work with Amy in the same place.
Assisi being a walled city, we decided to highlight this by incorpora ng the 8 doors as part of our project. We have put together a leaflet that fits into our book, showing the doors and members of our Assisi community.
This Digital book is made up of 52 pages and is a visual discussion of images and tex les between Amy Caterina and myself.
The project was exhibited at the Art Gallery Le Logge, in Assisi in August- September 2024
Domus Sesto Properzio, Detail of Bird Mural c 50-100 CE
Underneath Santa Maria Maggiore, Assisi, Italy
Image in A+B Projects Volume 2
A+B Projects Booklet 17 x 17 cm with Leaflet
Leaflet Side A 28 x 43 cm
Leaflet Side B 28 x 43 cm
2023-24
ART RESIDENCY UNNERUD, DENMARK
During October & December 2023 I was one of the ar sts at the Kunstkollek vet 8B a mul -disciplinary Art Residency in Unnerud, Denmark.
“I Hang my Clothes” a collabora ve piece being developed by Begi e Andersen and myself. Begi e Andersen is a Danish interdisciplinary ar st.
Begi e and I first met during my residency at Gæsteatelier Hollufgård, Odense in September 2019 and we have con nued a dialogue rela ng to our art prac ces.
The incep on of the project was using lyrics and music wri en by my sister, Margaret Magalo . The completed installa on incorporated 42 fabric banners throughout the space, screen printed, hand and machine embroidered with lyrics from the song. The music and lyrics were available via a QR-Code at a gallery. All the banners were sprayed with essen al oils giving the work a further dimension.
The installa on was a circle or spiral of banners slowly le ng people into a universe of emo ons. They could visualize, hear the song and be enveloped by a rich fragrant smell, the viewer meet an intense atmosphere that reflected the core of the song. We wanted to leave the audience with a sense of well-being.
The work was exhibited at Sol Gallery, Melbourne 31 Oct - 11 Nov 2024
II hang my clothes installa on, Sol gallery, Melbourne 2024
2022-23
lla
This work evokes the bi er-sweet narra ves of migra on.
The hand-sewn, crudely s tched seams are metaphors of fragility, the act of mending clothes and patching together our lives.
This work is both a celebra on of migra on as a new beginning and a reminder of what has to be le behind.
Flo
Flo lla Bronze 11 x 130 x 35 cm
The
The Death of Dido con nues my explora on of migra on and reloca on - in this case from life to death.
The Myth of Dido tells the story of a powerful Queen, who having found and lost love, choses to retake control through the only path le open to her.
Dido is depicted on her funeral pyre, festooned in lilies and leaves, symbolizing purity and rebirth.
x 32 x 10.5 cm
Death of Dido
Death of Dido Bronze
12.2
2020-22
42days42boats42installa ons
42 x 56 cm
42 x 56 cm
Diamond Bay
Giclee Prints
Flo lla
Giclee Print
This project was my response to the COVID-19 Stage 4 lockdown in Melbourne, originally announced for 42 days from 2 August to 13 September 2020.
During this period, Melburnians were restricted to travelling within a 5km radius and were only permi ed to leave home for four essen al reasons, including one hour of exercise per day. A nightly curfew from 8 pm to 5 am was also imposed. This self-directed project gave me focus and helped me remain produc ve during the lockdown.
I created one ceramic boat for each day of the Stage 4 lockdown. Once the boats were fired and glazed, I photographed them in various environments as installa ons. A er the lockdown ended, I was able to photograph the boats beyond the 5km limit from my home.
Each boat featured s tched seams on its surface. These crudely s tched seams served as metaphors for fragility, and for the act of mending and piecing our lives back together.
Although Australians were s ll unable to travel overseas except for excep onal circumstances, limited interna onal parcel post was available. I couldn’t leave Australia—but my boats could. I reached out to a number of ar sts and invited them to photograph one of my ceramic boats and share the images on Instagram to document the boats’ journeys. The response was overwhelming.
On 1 February 2021, six boats were sent on their way: two to the United States, three to Europe, and one to Western Australia. In June 2021, a further two boats were sent abroad—one to The United Kingdom and another to the United States. Boats that were created during a me of extreme lockdown, when we couldn’t move more than 5km from home, were now travelling the world.
This project was showcased in four exhibi ons throughout 2022
Various Space Gallery, Foster Ladder Art Space, Kew
The Hive Gallery, Ocean Grove
Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, Melbourne
All the photographs in the exhibi ons are unique works
56 x 42 cm
42 x 56 cm
Le Wilsons Prom
Giclee Print
Top S ll Life with Boats 2
Bo om Wilsom Promontory
Na onal Park
Giclee Prints
2020-21
Migra on Series #2
Bronze 24 x 41 x 11cm
Stormy Passage Bronze
12 x 27 x 13 cm
In 2019 I par cipated in an art residency at Gæsteatelier Hollufgård, Denmark. This afforded an ideal environment both for working and dialogue with fellow residents. It also provided me with a fresh outlook on my work and I con nue to extend this research.
“Arrival” is one of the pieces that developed out of my residency in Denmark. and is part of my Migra on Series. As the daughter of migrants, I am keen to explore no ons of iden ty and travel associated with migra on.
Inspired by my research into boats in Denmark, and the hull of Barca Nostra at the 2019 Venice Biennale, my work evokes the bi er-sweet narra ves of migra on.
The hand-sewn sacks and crudely s tched seams on the boat are metaphors for fragility, the act of mending clothes and patching together our lives. “Arrival” depicts the ending of a difficult and uncertain journey, where the migrants are absent, possibly having moved on.
This work is both a celebra on of migra on as a new beginning and a personal protest against the way most developed countries approach migra on.
13 x 37 x 10.5 cm
Top Migra on Series #1
Bronze
25 x 41 x11cm
Bo om
Migra on Series #2
Bronze
24 x 41 x11cm
Top Migra on Series#3
Bronze 24 x 41 x11cm
Bo om
Precious Cargo #1,2 & 3
Bronze 8.5 x 30 x 30 cm
Belongings
Bronze
17 x 22 x 9 cm
Provisions
Bronze
9 x 20 x 16 cm
Sacks
Bronze
7 x 13 x 13 cm
During May and June 2018, I was one of the resident ar sts at the Fish Factory Crea ve Centre, a mul disciplinary art residency in Stöðvar örður, Iceland.
Valkyrie, Seated Valkyrie, Taking Flight, and Arabesque were four works from my Valkyrie Series, created during the two-month residency. The Valkyries are central figures in Norse mythology—female beings who determined the fate of warriors on the ba lefield and chose which of the fallen would be carried to Valhalla.
The sculpture Valkyrie (on the opposite page) formed part of an evolving theme in my prac ce: using abstract, organic shapes to create figura ve and anthropomorphic forms.
2019
ART RESIDENCY STÖÐVARFJÖRÐUR, ICELAND
Valkyrie
Bronze 21 x 25 x 7 cm
The Völvas, also one of the works from my residency in Iceland.
The Völvas were female seers or shamans in the Viking Age, highly respected for their spiritual insight and connec on to the divine. They were revered figures who o en travelled between communi es, performing rituals and offering visions of the future. The word Völva means “wand carrier” or “carrier of a magic staff.” As part of this sculpture, I incorporated a staff and bags used to carry herbs.
The Völvas Bronze
30 x 30 x 14 cm
