Young Girl Sculpture

Bat eared foxes, with their enormous ears (to scale in the sculpture), so acute they can detect the movement of small prey below the surface of the ground, symbolically embody for me a hypersensitivity to the world, an acute intuition. Therianthropes are historically among the most ancient of sculptural figures. In some art traditions they tend to symbolize animal-like characteristics in humans that are often seen as negative: aggression, savagery, uncontrolled passion or greed. In contrast, the motivation for my “merged” pieces relates far more to the mythology of the San ("Bushmen") people of Southern Africa. To quote Dr Michael Wessels (Author of ‘The Bushman Letters’): 'Balcomb’s pieces, like the therianthropic figures in San paintings, which open a door between everyday and spiritual worlds, and between the realms of the living and the dead, explore the relationship between the human and animal worlds, suggesting that identity is fluid, mysterious and beautiful, and that consciousness is a common condition, not the sole possession of human beings. The female aspect of the pieces highlights the vulnerability and sensitivity of both human and animal beings'. These sculptures aim, by replacing the human head with that of other creatures in the world, to turn on its head the notion that human beings must control the earth and all that is in it. They suggest that unity is possible. The instincts and capabilities of animals are things that we need to recognize, respect, admire, and be enchanted by. But more than this we need them, as much as they need us. I hope that these sculptures help to deconstruct the myth of animal “savagery” we have created: to eliminate the fear and endear them to us.