ceramics, installation

‘agony in the garden‘ marked bonneville’s first foray into the world of ceramics – a practice taken up following a hiatus from their work in the performing arts. this exhibition inaugurated the serial project ‘animals landscapes and saints’, which examines the lives and legacies of different saints, while delving into the intersections between mystical studies, human and non-human animal relations, and the enduring tension between civilization and the natural world.
constantly seeking to expand their vocabulary beyond what is expected, beyond what they were taught, bonneville resists confining language, allowing it instead to generate other worlds. for them, obligation stands in direct opposition to imagination. they began working with ceramics out of curiosity and desire, with no goal beyond the act itself. they allowed themself to become once again available to the sensuous world, to matter – and it responded. the vast realm of the erotic reopened.
in the episode of the agony in the garden, christ finds himself in a moment of profound vulnerability. he knows what is coming – arrest, violence, abandonment – and asks his friends to stay with him. this plea is, in truth, a call for presence and consolation – friendship revealed as companionship in sorrow. he does not ask to be saved, nor for anything heroic – only that the others remain with him. these two realities – friendship in times of hardship, and the discovery of new possibilities that do not require sacrifice – were central to this exhibition.