Lorne Sculpture Biennale

13/04/2025

We are delighted to announce the recipients of the People’s Choice Award, generously sponsored by Lorne Aquatic and Angling Club.

This year the Award was jointly granted to Chaohui Xie and Richard Collopy, who received an equal number of votes. Congratulations to both artists and thank you to all who voted!

Gadubanud artist Richard Collopy’s central installation on Lorne foreshore, Parrawa wuurn, takes the form of a traditional wuurn structure, constructed from natural materials secured to a steel dome frame. The artist explains that: ‘when rendering a home, ideas flow and now I am sharing how I discussed this with our children, we played around a lot and are building differing types of shelters today, designs from times gone by, or as we all created out there round the Cape, enjoying that designing and coming back to the fire, so to speak; this can leave that positive memory… Parrawa wuurn embodies family and community central to our happiness.’

This project was generously supported by patrons Dr Jack Wynhoven AM CM and Cynthia Wynhoven, and assisted by Colac Otway Aboriginal Corporation and production partner Sculpture Co.

Chaohui Xie’s sculpture Deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation is a wall structure constructed of 220 Hebel blocks with holes chiseled out. From a distance these indents appear like impact holes from ammunition, yet on closer inspection they reveal the borderlines of all the countries of the world. The concept of deterritoralisation emphasises breaking down the constraints of established jurisdiction from man-made boundaries. Deterritorialisation describes creation through change, a process where structure, deconstruction and restructuring creates new possibilities.

This project was generously supported by patrons the Hatcher, Rodd and O’Neill Families, and assisted by ACNL Engineers.

Image: Parrawa wuurn (Spear hut of steeI and wood), 2025, Richard Collopy, 2025. Courtesy of Christian Capurro.

Image: Deterritorialisation and reterritoralisation, 2025. Chaohui Xie. Courtesy of Christian Capurro.

10/04/2025

Sculpture Plus was a series of ephemeral artworks, performances, participatory events, talks and workshops that ran as part of the 2025 Lorne Sculpture Biennale.

Supported by Regional Arts Australia and Regional Arts Victoria, Sculpture Plus provided an important opportunity for connection and exchange between artists, audiences and the local community.

As an extension of the Biennale it was a pivotal point of engagement with the ideas and approaches of contemporary artists in a regional context. Thank you to all the artists involved, and to everyone who attended.

This project was made possible by the Australian Government Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia.

1. A Nascent Tethering (performance), 2025, Gretel Taylor. Image courtesy of Laki Sideris.
2. Sonic Activation, 2025, Carly Fischer and Edwina Stevens. Image courtesy of Simon Lawrie.
3. Weaving workshop, 2025, Studio Forrest. Image courtesy of the artists.
4. Shiprite (performance), 2025, Creative Occupation. Image courtesy of Mathew Berg.
5. DarkQuiet Overnight, 2025, DarkQuiet. Image courtesy of Meredith Rogers.
6. Sound walk workshop, 2025, Lucy Allinson. Image courtesy of the artist.
7. Richard Collopy artist talk and performance, 2025. Image courtesy of Simon Lawrie.
8. Harp Sculpture Performance, 2025, Jen Valender and Genevieve Fry. Image courtesy of Leon Walker.
9. Tidal beach drawing (holies and hills), 2025, Kerrie Poliness. Image courtesy of Shane Thomson, Urchin Creative.
10. LightWater, 2025, Natasha Johns-Messenger. Image courtesy of Shane Thomson, Urchin Creative.
11. The Strandline (performance), 2025, Rhae Kendrigan. Image courtesy of Laki Sideris.


.disrhythms

28/03/2025

Natasha Johns-Messenger
LightWater 2025
led lights, led driver

‘LightWater’ is a site-specific work using light to delineate volume and motion in existing water bodies, which continues Johns-Messenger’s work testing the subtleties of perception in public space. Improvising and responding to the waterscape’s existing conditions, lights are installed near Erskine River Swing Bridge creating a slow-growing crepuscular enigma which emerges as the natural light fades.

The work prompts us to reflect on fundamental atmospheric elements such as light and water, and how our understanding and experience of the world can be shifted through these environmental conditions.

This evening is your last chance to see LightWater by Natasha Jones-Messenger - the artwork is best viewed from 8:30pm onwards.

This project was generously supported by sponsors Dan and Liza Wollmering, Glyn Davis and Margaret Gardner, Ute and Dieter Martin, and Lorne Friendship Group and assisted by Swing Bridge Café.

This project was made possible by the Australian Government Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia, and Regional Arts Victoria.

Images: LightWater, 2025. Natasha Johns-Messenger. Courtesy of Shane Thomson, Urchin Creative.

28/03/2025

27/03/2025

Yusi Zang
‘Feeding’ 2025
cement fondu, steel, sand, plastic, feeding trough

Zang’s sculptural installation ‘Feeding’ consists of a pair of antlers submerged in a feeding trough filled with sludge. The antlered subject, which could be a prehistoric or contemporary creature, appears to sink impossibly through the food source needed for its survival. The artwork explores themes of parasitism and dependency within the larger world, the survival instinct of organisms seeking food sources, and the existential questions posed by these instincts.

Installed near the HAH Lorne Beach Cafe, a hub of both human and animal activity, the sculpture also comments on the place of certain species of animal and groups of people within a given context and their acceptance or integration within environmental and social ecosystems.

Yusi Zang is represented by Animal House Fine Arts.






This project was made possible by the Australian Government Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia, and Regional Arts Victoria.

Images: Feeding, 2025. Yusi Zang. Courtesy of the artist.

27/03/2025

There are just 3 days left to visit Lorne Sculpture Biennale 2025: STRATA.

With 16 site-responsive artworks, an exhibition of small sculptures, film screenings and public programs, the biennale offers engaging works of contemporary art and dynamic new experiences of place. All aspects of the exhibition are free to attend.

Please note that the small sculpture exhibition and some outdoor installations will close at 3pm on Sunday.

We’d also love for you to join us for the final Sculpture+ events on Saturday afternoon: The Strandline, a performance by Rhae Kedrigan, and A Nascent Tethering, a performance by Gretel Taylor.

More information on these performances and links to book can be find via the link in our bio or on our website:

https://www.lornesculpture.com/2025-biennale/sculptureplus

Video: Kerrie Poliness, Tidal beach drawing (holes and hills) 2025, collaborative beach drawing, detail. Video Shane Thomson, Urchin Creative.
Image: Rhae Kendrigan, Strandline 2025. Courtesy the artist.
Image: Gretel Taylor, Scourge 2019, performance. Courtesy the artist. Photo Laki Sideris.

26/03/2025

Kerrie Poliness
Tidal beach drawing (holes and hills) 2025
Collaborative public drawing, March 22, 2025

On Saturday, Kerrie Poliness facilitated a participatory tidal drawing, made directly onto the beach where participants used simple tools like sticks and gardening trowels for drawing lines. This drawing changed and vanished with the incoming tide.

Landscape paintings Lorne: Ocean, Tea Tree, Erskine River 2025
8 clear acrylic panels with acrylic paint: violet sea snail (dark), sea lettuce green, old shell fragment teal,
bull kelp brown, cart-rut shell egg-casing pink, violet sea snailpurple (light), sea grass green, kelp gold

Poliness’ ‘landscape paintings’ invert the traditional genre depicting a scene objectively, instead situating numerous diamond shaped paintings on clear acrylic within the landscape itself. They are temporary exhibitions, conditioned by the shifting site conditions such as tidal movements, daylight, wind and rain. The specific colour of each painting is derived from flora and fauna found onsite—shells, seaweed, and feathers. The diamond shape is anthropomorphic and embodies the principle of diagonality. It is a recurrent motif in Poliness’ art, signifying the interconnectedness of interdependencies between people and place, nature and art. The landscape paintings made during the research period were installed as ‘exhibitions’ and documented using video. Poliness has made a film relating to this work that is currently screening during the Biennale as part of the Tidal Movement series. The films in the Tidal Movement series are played daily at the heritage Mantra Observatory Rooms.

This project was assisted by the Australian Government through the Festivals Australia program, and generously supported by patrons Andrew Stobart and Eliza Strauss. Kerrie Poliness’ Sculpture+ event was supported by Angela Westacott. Kerrie Poliness is represented by Anna Schwartz Gallery.

Video: Tidal beach drawing (holes and hills) 2025. Kerrie Poliness. Courtesy of Urchin Creative.
Image: Image: Kerrie Poliness, Landscape paintings with the beach at Lorne 2025. Courtesy the artist.

25/03/2025

John Meade
Giulia 2025
Aluminium, steel, PVC, polypropylene webbing, metalized polyester tape, nylon, shock cord

Meade’s ‘Giulia’ uses Federico Fellini’s 1965 film ‘Juliet of the Spirits’ as a keystone, its simple abstract form based on the extraordinary hats worn by Fellini’s characters and designed by Piero Gheradi. The film is set in the seaside town of Fregene near Rome and follows a woman who confronts the desires and sublimations of her psyche to find resolve and set her ghosts free.

There is a moment in the film where the lead character, Guilietta, is with friends at the beach. She is reclining on a sun lounge wearing a white straw/mesh bowl-shaped hat. As she relaxes in the sun, she slowly lowers her head and falls into a daydream. With this movement, the brim of her hat slowly moves down over her eyes to screen out the reality of daylight, allowing her to fall momentarily into her subconscious.

The faceted geometry of ‘Giulia’’s structural hemisphere is inspired in part by a marbled dome ceiling at the Red Fort in Agra, India. It’s hexagonal design also reveals subtle references to occult spiritualism as seen in Fellini’s film. On the Lorne beach, Meade’s choice of lightweight materials such as the fabric webbing utilise the sun and the wind to evoke a relaxed, yet elegant, disposition (the etymology of resolve is solvere, Latin for loosen or release).

This project was generously supported by patrons Larry and Petra Kamener, and assisted by ACNL Engineers. John Meade is represented by Sutton Gallery, Melbourne

This project was made possible by the Australian Government Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia, and Regional Arts Victoria.

Images: Giulia, 2025. John Meade. Courtesy of Christian Capurro.

24/03/2025

Chaohui Xie
Deterritorialisation and reterritoralisation, 2025
steel, wood, Hebelblocks, wire

Chaohui Xie’s sculpture ‘Deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation’ is a wall structure constructed of 220 Hebel blocks with holes chiseled out. From a distance these indents appear like impact holes from ammunition, yet on closer inspection they reveal the borderlines of all the countries of the world.

The concept of deterritoralisation emphasises breaking down the constraints of established jurisdiction from man-made boundaries. It is not simply imagining of a borderless world excluding territoriality, rather the phenomenon of deterritorialisation is inevitably accompanied by spatial reconstruction and reterritorialisation.

Deterritorialisation describes creation through change, a process where structure, deconstruction and restructuring creates new possibilities as original clearly defined and well-documented territorial divisions lose their authority through displacement and cross-border formations. This transformation process of constant generation and flux breaks fixed and static ideologies and creates an open field of new possibilities.

‘Deterritorialisation and reterritoralisation’ is therefore concerned with liberating ‘place’ and bringing the near and far closer together.

This project was generously supported by patrons the Hatcher, Rodd and O’Neill Families, and assisted by ACNL Engineers.

This project was made possible by the Australian Government Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia, and Regional Arts Victoria.

Image: Deterritorialisation and reterritoralisation, 2025. Chaohui Xie. Courtesy of Christian Capurro.
Video: Deterritorialisation and reterritoralisation, 2025. Chaohui Xie. Courtesy of Urchin Creative.
xie

23/03/2025

Richard Collopy
Parrawa wuurn (Spear hut of steeI and wood), 2025
Steel, aluminium, Tea-tree,wood, sandstone, abalone shells, bark, sand

Richard Collopy’s central installation on Lorne foreshore takes the form of a traditional wuurn structure, constructed from natural materials secured to a steel dome frame.

The artist explains that: ‘when rendering a home, ideas flow and now I am sharing how I discussed this with our children, we played around a lot and are building differing types of shelters today, designs from times gone by, or as we all created out there round the Cape, enjoying that designing and coming back to the fire, so to speak; this can leave that positive memory...’Parrawa wuurn’ embodies family and community central to our happiness.’

This project was generously supported by patrons Dr Jack Wynhoven AM CM and Cynthia Wynhoven, and assisted by Colac Otway Aboriginal Corporation and production partner Sculpture Co.

This project was made possible by the Australian Government Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia, and Regional Arts Victoria.

Image: Parrawa wuurn (Spear hut of steeI and wood), 2025, Richard Collopy, 2025. Courtesy of Christian Capurro.
Video: Parrawa wuurn (Spear hut of steeI and wood), 2025, Richard Collopy, 2025. Courtesy of Urchin Creative.

company

22/03/2025

Matthew Bird and Charity Edwards
Future fossil, 2025
Steel, paint, zinc

Reimagining Lorne’s coastal history, architect-artist Matthew Bird and architect-geographer Charity Edwards collaborate on the interactive artwork ‘Future fossil’. Rooted in Bass Strait narratives, it merges ancient ecological dominance with modern technological challenges. The sculpture mimics a fossilised megafauna, crafted from weathered mechanical objects emerging from the shoreline of Lorne beach. The endurance of steel urges tactile engagement and also prompts pondering of more-than-human timelines.

Simultaneously reflecting vanished marine giants and contemporary concerns like undersea drones mapping off shore wind farms, it intertwines historical richness, present urbanisation and future possibilities. The artwork navigates a perilous oceanic domain, bridging myth, mystery, and industrial nostalgia.

This project was generously supported by patrons Lyndsey Cattermole AM, Andrew Cattermole and Family, and assisted by production partner Sculpture Co, and Ian Webb.

This project was made possible by the Australian Government Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia, and Regional Arts Victoria.

Image: Future Fossil, Matthew Bird and Charity Edwards, 2025. Courtesy of Christian Capurro.
Video: Future Fossil, Matthew Bird and Charity Edwards, 2025. Courtesy of Urchin Creative.


company

21/03/2025

Lucy Allinson
Consuming the landscape, 2025
Plywood, exterior house paint, concrete, microphones, speakers, sound

Consuming the landscape is a sound installation exploring the impact of urbanisation on ecological systems. Intimately set amongst the Tea-trees on Cypress Avenue in Lorne, the sonic component includes three aspects—a selection of six years of the artist’s field recordings from the Otways forest region, the existing soundscape of the artwork site, and live feedback.

Allinson’s local recordings document the encroachment of urban development and its impact on bird life. A series of sculptures—stepping stones and larger framework structures—represent an abstracted urban space within the landscape. These elements convey how human infrastructure and activity impinges upon natural spaces both sonically and physically.

This Sunday 23rd March, join Lucy on a soundwalk around Lorne, focusing on listening, acoustic ecology, noise pollution, and liminal soundscapes. Tickets are very limited. You can register through the link in our bio or via our website:

https://www.lornesculpture.com/2025-biennale/sculptureplus

This project was generously supported by patrons Miranda, David and Caroline Rose and Paul Butler, produced in collaboration with Collide Public Art, and assisted by Lorne Home Hardware and Leisure.

This projects was made possible by the Australian Government Regional Arts Fund, which supports the arts in regional and remote Australia, and Regional Arts Victoria.

Video: Consuming the landscape, 2025, Lucy Allison. Courtesy of Urchin Creative.
Image: Consuming the landscape, 2025, Lucy Allison. Courtesy of Christian Capurro.