MARIE BONFILS  Sculptor

Through material investigations that bridge craft tradition and conceptual rigor, I continue to develop work that invites viewers into a sensory dialogue with form, space, and cultural narrative. Born in Denmark with parents working in children's television and literature, I was immersed in a creative DIY environment that fostered hands-on material exploration from an early age. This childhood foundation has instilled a natural curiosity about how materials can create meaningful communication between people and spaces. My dual Danish Italian heritage has profoundly affected my artistic vision. A new language, linguistic as semiotic, presents itself as a rupture of the norm, which opens new perspectives. An object, to me, is not a fixed form, language least of all. This cultural duality continues to inform my work, particularly in how I interpret questions of sexuality, gender games and questions of shame, dominance and seduction through a contemporary female discourse. The precision and intimacy I developed as a trained goldsmith fundamentally informs my approach to sculpture. Working closely with all sorts of material taught me to acknowledge their inherent properties while understanding their transformative potential. This tactile knowledge—the intelligence of the hand—remains central to my practice as I've expanded into larger sculptural forms. My current work exists at the intersection of architectural intervention and body politics. I challenge established spatial hierarchies by introducing feminine forms into traditionally masculine architectural contexts, creating tension between monumentality and intimacy. Looking forward, I aim to deepen this investigation, exploring how sculptural interventions can transform not just physical spaces, but our understanding of gendered power structures embedded within them.