

It’s Saturday night above a pub in Thirroul NSW, and the band is playing Purple Rain. This little creature is bound for the Wollongong Art Gallery tomorrow and it needs some urgent attention, so I’m doing surgery with paper bags and school glue.
It was made in 1997 for my first solo show, Pets and Livestock, full of sad and scruffy moving animals. Sculptor, lecturer and local legend Ian Gentle bought it from the livestock auction we staged. The feet were taken from a dead rat, and over the years they’ve broken or rotted off. I build things more robustly these days.
In December this year a major retrospectiove of Ian’s work and life is happening across the Illawarra. As well as his works, there’ll be a response exhibition from his students and peers. That’s where I come in, and it’s an honour to be included. Ian Gentle was an extraordinary sculptor and teacher, whose guidelines for what to mock and what to revere I still abide by. He also told great yarns, some of which may have been true.

Horny Sticks and Whispering Lines and A Gentle Response, Wollongong Art Gallery, 2nd December 2023 – 25th February 2024. This exhibition has been made possible by The Gentle Project.