When people pass by Michael Purdy’s steel, sandstone and metal sculpture at the entrance to Wollongong Botanic Garden, he hopes they will peer through the cut outs in the tallest pillar and see the trees beyond.
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“It’s made entirely of steel, and yet you can see the trees through it, so that’s representing a lighter footprint,” he said of his work, Steel City.
“With technology it will be possible to achieve more with less resources. This will make heavy industry not so heavy, but it has still got to be here.”
The South Coast artist was on Wednesday announced as the winner of Wollongong’s second biennial acquisitive sculpture award, which asked artists to respond to the theme of “place”.
The judges awarded Mr Purdy the $30,000 prize, saying his work reflected the city’s industrial past and used elements of the escarpment and botanical references such as tree fern-inspired trunks.
His work is one of eleven sculptures now on display as part of Sculpture in the Garden, which runs until May 20.
Exhibition visitors can nominate their favourite piece for the People’s Choice Award, to be presented on May 17. The winning artist of the People’s Choice Award will receive $3,000.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
