Image from upcoming documentary 'Against the Grain, with the Flow' by Harry Kellaway
2025 is a very special and celebratory year for me. Fifty years working as a full- time sculptor, well over 100 major sculptures/commissions completed in Australia and internationally. Around 50 solo shows and around 400 group exhibitions in Australia and internationally, resulting in work being in major public and private commissions around the world. In the big picture it has been great, but it has had its moments when it has been physically, psychologically and financially debilitating - sculptors understand this all too well! This year deliberately I celebrate! Highlights will include:
. Planning for the 12th Palmer Sculpture Biennial in 2026
. A major 50 year retrospective with Australian Galleries in Melbourne in June. My respect for this gallery and it`s Director Stuart Purvis as genuine custodians of Australian art is well known. I am grateful/humbled to have this exhibition with them.
. A major documentary on my 50 year career, by the film maker Harry Kellaway, tentatively titled "Against the Grain , With The Flow" to be released in the first quarter of the year.
. On April the 5th or 6th the official opening of the the Palmer Ecoshed on the Palmer Sculpture landscape will take place. We have worked on this wonderful, carefully considered, small eco - sustainable building for 2 years and 8 months. Now complete it will provide broad spectrum research residencies in both the humanities and sciences, with a focus on integrated, holistic approaches, so crucial for our survival in the coming decades. At the opening I will also launch my 23 year symbiotic engagement of the Palmer landscape with around 50 of my sculptures placed there. I believe this is the largest sculpture project ever undertaken by an Australian sculptor. It has taken place, hand in hand, with the restoration of the landscape there, which is now significantly returning over the 400 acre property - the return of over 24 bird species, as well as flora and animals is so, so pleasing. Finally a 50 year exhibition of my work, including extensive visual documentation, will take place in the new building and the round house there. A walk around the property, engaging with the extraordinary returning landscape will be a highlight of the day. Exciting!
. A major new public sculpture "Swaying Whisperers (Songs Of The)" will be launched in Sydney in the first 3 months of 2025. Six metres high and 8 metres wide , based on drawings of our beautiful native grasses, this Doran Drive commission has been a major challenge to construct.
. A major new and different studio work is nearing completion, especially made as a 50th year sculpture - hopefully to be shown at SXS, Bondi.
. A likely solo show of large sculptures will also take place at The Wharf Exhibition Soho Galleries put on each year.
. Finally, a third monograph on my sculpture will be started - 10 years since the last one. This will be a long term project.
'Seaing the Land - Feeling the Land (Shedding Figure)' at Sculpture by the Sea 2024
Coming Soon!
Major sculpture for Sydney, Doran Drive Commission, nearing completion to be installed in first half of 2025. Title for the work is 'Swaying Whisperers (Songs of The)'. Sculpture is influenced by the beautiful forms of our native grasses. Constructed from Corten and Stainless steel, the sculpture will be 6m high x 8m wide. A large scale walk which people will be able to work through and around.
