Artist
Artist: Bronwyn Oliver
Curator
Curator: Sally Couacaud
Date Installed
Installed 1999
Location
Royal Botanic Gardens, 4 Macquarie Street, SYDNEY, 2000
Project
Project: Sydney Sculpture Walk
Tag
Tags: Bronze, Site-specific
Artist Website

Royal Botanic Gardens, 4 Macquarie Street, SYDNEY, 2000

Artwork Description

This sculpture is intended to symbolise an elemental form washed up by the tide, blown by wind, eroded by water and laden with the potential for vigour and transformation. It began with the bud of the magnolia tree above.

Nestled amongst the trees near Farm Cove in the Royal Botanic Gardens is a pair of overscaled seed or pod-like sculptures made of copper, Magnolia and Palm. Placed adjacent to the site that became known as First Farm, the artist Bronwyn Oliver employed the seed form as a sign of new beginnings, laden with the potential for growth and transformation.

Before European settlement this part of the foreshore was a mudflat. Seed and flotsam were washed up by the waves. Ships arrived on the tide in 1788 and crops were planted nearby soon afterwards on the site that became known as First Farm. This area has been dedicated ever since to the introduction and propagation of plants reflecting the changing cultural and horticultural needs of the day. Historically the site provided the new colony with sustenance and food crops from European seeds, and it is still used today for the propagation of new and exotic species.

Rippling copper rods branch upwards from a granite base, like veins towards a tapered tip. The surface is covered in thin curling tendrils of copper echoing the qualities of husks or seed-shells found amongst the surrounding foliage in the gardens. Sited close by to each other, beneath a palm and a magnolia tree, these sculptures are intended to symbolise elemental forms “washed up by the tide, blown by the wind, eroded by water and laden with the potential for vigour and transformation”.

Artist

Bronwyn Oliver (1959 – 2006) was an Australian sculptor who practised and taught in Sydney. Oliver worked primarily in metal. Raised in rural New South Wales, she trained at Sydney’s College of Fine Arts and London’s Chelsea School of Art. She was the recipient of numerous awards including a New South Wales Travelling Art Scholarship in 1981 and the Moet & Chandon Australian Art Fellowship in 1994.

SYDNEY SCULPTURE WALK PLAQUE

Magnolia / Bronwyn Oliver / Before European settlement this foreshore was a mud flat. Seeds and flotsam were washed up by the / waves. Ships arrived on the tide in 1788 and crops were planted nearby soon afterwards. This area has / been dedicated ever since to the introduction and propagation of plants reflecting the changing cultural and / horticultural needs of the day. / This sculpture is intended to symbolise an elemental form washed up by the tide, blown by wind, eroded by / water and laden with the potential for vigour and transformation. It began / with the bud of the magnolia tree above. / Installed: June 1999

Sydney Sculpture Walk

The Sydney Sculpture Walk was a major City of Sydney initiative for the 2000 Olympics and the 2001 Centenary of Federation, curated by Sally Coucaud.

Ten artworks were commissioned from leading Australian and international artists to form a circuit through the city from the Domain and Royal Botanic Gardens, through East Circular Quay and the city streets to Martin Place.

Each artwork was site-specific, addressing the historical and cultural aspects of its location and contributing to an appreciation and understanding of the city’s environment, history and character.

 

 

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