GLOBE HEAD BALLERINA 2012

Editor: This mixed-media sculpture, “Globe Head Ballerina” by Yinka Shonibare, created in 2012, really throws me for a loop. The figure trapped inside a large transparent sphere – it’s strangely beautiful but also kind of unsettling. It gives the feeling of fragility. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Unsettling is a good word! Shonibare often uses vibrant, almost flamboyant materials to tackle some pretty weighty concepts, doesn't he? This piece feels like a miniature world held captive, doesn't it? Consider the ballerina figure inside. She's seemingly striving, poised, yet stuck within that sphere. The globe for a head? Well, that screams globalization, right? What kind of dance can she possibly do, contained like that? Editor: I suppose the ballerina could represent Western culture trapped by the very idea of global reach? Curator: That's a smart connection! Or maybe it speaks more broadly about the limitations we all face, no matter how graceful or skilled we are. Perhaps even about the expectations we put on ourselves? The glass could be read as literally showing a bubble we put ourselves into. Editor: It’s definitely thought-provoking. All that potential, all that artistry, kind of…stuck. I hadn’t considered the bubble idea before. Thanks! Curator: It certainly highlights the contrasts, doesn't it? Between confinement and aspiration, between local identity and the global stage.