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Mosaic is as much about the action of making as the object you make, Bodycomb says.
One of her pieces can be found at the Geelong ferry terminal, a massive mussel shell inspired by the middens found in nearby Cowies Creek, an important place for the Wadawurrung people. Local artists Glenn Romanis and Mark Trinham enlisted her to create the mosaic component, while Romanis crafted the 6.5 tonne shell from basalt.
JIM, made by Bodycomb and Rene Schaefer about 15 years ago, depicts drummer Jim White, known for The Dirty Three, Xylouris White and more.Credit: Jason South
“There are remaining phenomenal middens many metres deep, demonstrating many thousands of years of camps,” she says, adding that the work is designed to honour that enduring presence.
“You don’t see a lot of mosaic work like this. Every piece is hand cut to fit the shape of the one next to it ... It’s not like other media. Every cut, every shape, every colour and you’re committed with every tessera that you place. It’s not like painting where you can correct things by layering.”
Bodycomb is working with First Nations Artists Lee-Anne Clarke and Mandi Barton on a series for Brimbank Council. To be installed at Sunvale Park in Sunshine, they represent five universal elements used to illustrate Wurundjeri culture in the area: spirit (Bunjil), water, fire, earth and air.
She’s keen to help share Indigenous stories. “It’s rare that I make using someone else’s designs but this is a really important time. The Voice is imminent and this is a time of heightened consciousness about reconciliation.”
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Italy is the epicentre for ancient as well as contemporary mosaics and Bodycomb regularly leads tours to its historical sites.
In 2001, she was artist-in-residence at the world’s top mosaic school in Spilimbergo in Italy’s north-east; despite being a new mother she knew it was not an opportunity to be missed.
Part of her mission is to redefine what mosaic is as a practice – and as a way of thinking. Both ancient and contemporary, it gives us an opportunity to have an enduring voice, she says, so forces you to think about what we want to say and how we want to say it.
Made during one of Victoria’s lockdowns, Pandemic Relic is a bronze that will outlive all surviving memories of the experience of COVID, says Bodycomb.
You can make a piece that is designed to biodegrade – which survives only briefly – or you can make a piece that is designed to last, in marble or bronze, that will outlive you by centuries.
The best way to look after an old mosaic is to bury it underground, she says, glued together with a lime mortar which can move. That’s why there are so many stunning ancient examples still in existence, such as those at Pompeii.
Today, it’s white fabric featuring stunning local fauna, but one day, all that will remain of Bodycomb’s death shroud will be the gold mosaic.