Miniature Sculpture Exhibition 10-20 December 2022

1. Pygmalion’s Folly (after Gerome), 2022, kinetic assemblage, 15×11.5x7cm
2-5. Pygmalion’s Folly (after Gerome), detail
6. Galatea back wall sketch, graphite pencil on paper, detail 5
7. Pygmalion and Galatea study, after Gerome, 2022, pastel pencil on toned paper, 37x56cm

Pygmalion’s Folly

This kinetic assemblage is based on Jean-Leon Gerome’s painting Pygmalion and Galatea (1890), which, in turn, draws on Ovid’s account of the myth. In Ovid’s version, Pygmalion becomes dissatisfied with the women around him and carves his ideal woman from ivory. He falls in love with his inanimate creation, dressing her, giving her gifts, and caressing her before praying to Venus to bring her to life. Gerome’s painting depicts Pygmalion and Galatea in his studio at the moment she comes to life in his embrace.

In the myth, Pygmalion idealises women to such an extent that no woman can live up to his expectations. My work reframes the myth and shifts the scrutiny from Galatea to Pygmalion. Through a change in scale, Pygmalion creates a woman twice his size. When the key is wound, Galatea turns, appearing to come to life. As she towers over her creator, this awakening prompts the question of whether Pygmalion can live up to her expectations.