What you’ll learn in this episode:   Why people get so concerned with categorizing art, and why some of the most interesting art is created by crossing those boundaries  How Joy balances running a business while handmaking all of her pieces What noble metals are, and how they allow Joy to play with different colors How Joy’s residences in Japan influenced her work How Joy has found a way to rethink classical art and confront its dark history     About Joy BC   Joy BC (Joy Bonfield – Colombara) is an Artist and Goldsmith working predominantly in Noble Metals and bronze. Her works 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’. 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.Additional Resources:  Joy’s Website Joy’s Instagram Photos: Photos available on TheJewelryJourney.com Transcript:   While others are quick to classify artists by genre or medium, Joy BC avoids confining her work to one category. Making wearable pieces that draw inspiration from classical sculpture, she straddles the line between jeweler and fine artist. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about why she works with noble metals; the exhibition that kickstarted her business; and how she confronts the often-dark history of classical art though her work. Read the episode transcript here.   Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the second part of a two-part episode. Today, my guest is the award-winning artist and goldsmith Joy Bonfield-Colombara, or as she is known as an artist and jeweler, Joy BC. Joy is attracted to classical art, which she interprets from her own contemporary viewpoint. Welcome back.    You’re alone, and it’s always a challenge to me, whether you’re a writer or jeweler, to find ways to get out of the isolation. You can only spend so much time alone. How do you figure out a way to do that?   Joy: I love it. I love it because I’m an only child. Often people don’t think I’m an only child, but I think that’s because we had so many people coming and going from our house when I was a kid. My mom would invite lots of people, and they would stay and go. They all added very much to who I am as well, all those people that came through our house. The thing with imagination, I used to spend so much time on my own. My mom and my dad were always working. They were fantastic parents, but they were oftentimes—I think also when you’re a child, time is a completely different realm. You experience it in a comple