Art & Sculpture

THE UMBRELLA – Anna Williams | 2022 |

Steel rod and net

Umbrella won the 2022 Kingborough Council Acquisition Award from Art Farm Birchs Bay.

Artist statement: “When I was making this umbrella, I tried to make a sculpture which was robust and elegant. Umbrellas are one of those everyday objects that combine function and aesthetics to create a beautiful shape. I was inspired by Renoir’s Painting ‘The Umbrella’, although umbrellas have been used by artists, filmmakers and in rituals throughout history.”

To be installed at the Gordon foreshore 2025.

BIOTIC FORMS – Ulrike Hora | 2021

Ceramic Stoneware, Steel 

The Biotic Forms won the 2021 Kingborough Council Acquisition Award from Art Farm Birchs Bay. 

Artist statement: “The cycles of nature inspire the reawakening of Biotic Forms as they emerge from the earth like living forms, yet rigid and unyielding as the stone beneath. Infusing perceptions of buds, flowers and seeds with earth, stem and stone, a life-evoking grove emerges, being at once both earthly and alien.” 

Installed outside the Civic Centre Kingston

ODD OR EVEN – Dan Tucker | 2023

Odd or Even won the 2023 Kingborough Council Acquisition Award from Art Farm Birchs Bay.

Artist statement: “I am fascinated by the beauty of mechanical things, the symmetry, precision and balance. Even when I know they are destructive. We manipulate the landscape around us to make our lives more comfortable but often in this process we disrupt and destroy the balance of nature, is it odd we are doing this at an ever-quickening speed.”

Installed at Gordon Foreshore in March 2024.

SQUALL – Ben Beames | 2020 |

Forged and formed steel

Squall won the 2020 Kingborough Council Acquisition Award from Art Farm Birchs Bay. 

Artist statement: “Dancing on the surface, a squall of chaotic elegance.”

Intended location Kettering – Trial Bay 2025.

TIN TUNA – Shane Suris | 2019 

Scrap metal including truck parts

Tin Tuna won the 2019 Kingborough Council Awards from Art Farm Birchs Bay.

Artist statement: “Tin Tuna came to life from a combination of my love for fishing and scrap metal. The southern bluefin tuna is a strong and robust hunter common in Tasmanian waters.”

Installed at  Silverwater Park, Woodbridge

WEATHER GIRL – Pirjo Julola – 2018

Steel, wire, acrylic

Weather girl won the 2018 Kingborough Council Acquisition Award from Art Farm Birchs Bay.

Artist statement: “Weather Girl is about the rising influence of girls as young women in our society. No longer just an attractive afterthought presenting the weather on TV, the weather girl IS the weather.” 

Installed outside the Gymnastics building at Kingborough Sports Centre, 10 Kingston View Drive, Kingston

WEEDY – Evie Silver – 2023

Weedy won the 2023 Kingborough Council Acquisition Award from Art Farm Birchs Bay.

Artist Statement: “Weedy is on face value, the translocation of a delicate under water scene to land – my representation of a weedy sea dragon. It is also a product of my exploration with the materials of metal and glass – playing with the movements of currents and the combinations of colours and rust.”

Location to be advised.

CURRAWONG – Ned Trewartha | 2017

Huon Pine, Douglas Fir (Oregon)

Artist statement: “I have long had a fascination with birds both real and imagined. This Currawong is a stylised interpretation, just three simple lines. The Huon is an offcut from the boatbuilding process. The Oregon in the bench is a prop to hold a yacht in position whilst cleaning the hull (careening). The notched steps would have lined up with a particular hull section. The Oregon legs are from demolition timber of unknown origin or use.”

Installed at Kingborough Civic Centre Atrium, 15 Channel Highway Kingston

CELLO – Mike Limb | 2016 |

Steel, enamel paint Cello won the 2016 Kingborough Council Acquisition Award from Art Farm Birchs Bay. 

Mike Limb has a background in the performing arts in a career spanning 30 years – with roles including acting, directing and production. After undertaking an apprenticeship in sheet- metal fabrication he has turned his focus to sculpture. 

Located at the Kingborough Community Hub, Crn Pardalote Pde/Goshawk Way, Kingston

IN THE FUTURE – Keith Smith | 2015 

Installed at Kingston Wetlands

Recycled wedge timber and discarded metal bolts. 

In The Future won the Kingborough Council Acquisition Award from the 2015 Salvaged Art Exhibition. 

The artist says: “During a visit to the Netherlands I became fascinated with windmills. One day I was taken to see an old windmill that sawed timber logs. It was an amazing experience to see the machine working in the wind and cutting timber. This inspired me to make this artwork.  

At the time of making this work there was a debate around using windmills for power. So, I considered its future use, which is now vastly becoming our reality.  

Keith Smith is a self-taught artist, fitter, and turner. He notes his passion for learning how to make things, which has led him to make art. 

SEED – Dean Chatwin | 2014 

Artist statement: “Tragopogon porrifolius – otherwise known as common salsify, goatsbeard, Jerusalem star, John-go-to-bed-at-noon, Joseph’s flower, or oyster plant – is a ‘blow-in’ that grows unintentionally in my home’s front yard. Here I can study and reflect on its attractive purple flowers and arresting seed head that resembles that of a giant dandelion. Inspired by the forms of the individual seeds, their fragility and elegant umbrella-like shape, I scale them to enormous proportions to create other-worldly forms.”

Installed at Blackmans Bay Foreshore

FARMERS BALL – Keith Smith |2013

Installed at Kingston Wetlands

Farmers Ball won the Kingborough Council Acquisition Award from the 2013 Salvaged Art Exhibition. 

The artist says: “I was inspired to create an artwork for the 2013 Salvaged Art Exhibition out of old, discarded farming materials. I started with hand rolling the bailing twine but that didn’t work, so I built a rolling machine to roll it on.  

That worked well, it turned by itself, and I could slowly twist the twine on – creating a continuous process of wrapping layers and overlapping ensuring that the twine did not end up in the same place at the same time.  

In total, there is four kilometres of twine in this ball. Since 2013 I have made two others; one pink and another blue.  

JOIN ME FOR A DRINK – Simon Pankhurst 2011 |

Steel

Join Me for a Drink won the 2011 Benchmaking-Birchs Bay Acquisition prize. This work made entirely of reclaimed metal. 

Simon Punkhurst is a full-time sculptural blacksmith and former Kingborough resident. 

Installed at Civic Centre, 15 Channel Highway, Kingston

SUNDIAL – Dan Tucker | 2008

Installed at Kingborough Civic Centre Atrium, 15 Channel Highway Kingston

GLOBE SCULPTURE – MATTHEW CARNEY 2006 

Artist statement: “When we encounter the enormous mass of a whale, we are struck by the insignificance of our own form and thus realise the true relationship that we share with our world. This work is a meeting place for the community and the people who visit the island and a source of discussion in acknowledging the symbiotic relationship that we have with the other inhabitants of the earth. The Inter-generational dependence of mother and calf depicts the continuity we experience from past and present.” 

Installed at Adventure Bay Foreshore, Bruny Island