Victorian sculptor Ernst Fries is known for his monumental works in stainless steel and granite, glass and concrete. He was born in Würzburg, Germany, and after a difficult childhood during World War II, studied gold and silver-smithing in Switzerland. He came to Australia in 1959. He settled in the Yarra Valley in 1986 where the landscape inspired him to explore themes of rebirth and new life in the elegant clean lines of his modern sculpture. With work in gallery collections in Australia and overseas, he has received many commissions for public sculpture, for example, in 2013, the glass and concrete panels of the Yarra Glen Black Saturday Memorial. Continue reading “Ernst Fries (1934-2020)”
Natasha – a personal reflection
When first saw this piece in the early 90s, I was also exploring the Catholic faith. The imagery of an icon was immediately recognisable and arresting. The simplicity of rendering in apparent monotone and the animation of the child I found appealing. It represented for me a gentle welcome into a faith community that has since become my spiritual home. It also became a vehicle for a line of enquiry into my place in the Church and that of women in general. Continue reading “Natasha – a personal reflection”
ROGER KEMP, the CIRCLE and the SQUARE
“His glimpses of the ineffable are translated to us in terms of dancing, for his paintings are a choreography of the spirit – but the dancing is never extravagant. It has the formal quality of a saraband. Every movement, every gesture, every brushstroke becomes part of a ritual.”
James Gleeson, review in Sydney’s Sun, 14 June 1967.