Daisy Boman is renowned as the creator of the Bo-men – featureless square-headed humanoid figures ranging in scale from tiny pieces that can be worn as jewellery to monumental public artworks. Daisy and her husband spent a period of time in the 80s living in South Africa, and the Bo-men were a response to the inequality she saw there, a suggestion of the universal desire for oneness and belonging.
Her latest work features floating Bo-men: around 200 small, reaching figures are crammed into four tyre inner tubes, similar to those used by desperate people fleeing war-torn Syria and elsewhere.
“The Bo-men have always been about people searching for a better life,” says Daisy, who works from a studio in the city of Geel, near Antwerp. “And that’s just what the refugees are doing – seeking the best life they can get for themselves and their families.”
The new floating Bo-men were first seen at an annual jazz festival in Geel at the beginning of September, where they took up residence in the swimming pool in the large private gardens of the festival’s host.
They’re currently in the pond in Daisy’s garden, watching over her while she works on her next project – a monumental figure on a similar scale to her most famous work, the interactive Antwerp Whisperer. This new giant Bo-man will soon be winging his (or her!) way to Singapore, to find a new home outside the offices of the company which has commissioned the piece.
Meanwhile, she is also packing up new artwork for the Artmarket in Cottingham, her sole representatives in the UK, which are bound to be snapped up quickly.
Currently in stock at the gallery are the Bo-men on Stone – lively little ceramic figures sitting atop marble columns, which come in sets of three. Other available pieces include Around the World – Bo-men marching purposefully around the edges of a hemisphere – and Continuity, which sees the little figures tangled together in a seething spherical mass, with one emerging triumphantly at the top. These original pieces are embossed with Daisy’s exclusive stamp and accompanied by a certificate signed by the artist.
