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Combining steel and ceramics to tell the stories of a particular Tasmanian place – and a place with an unusually rich suite of stories – was the challenge set by the City of Hobart when they commissioned ceramicist Wendy Edwards, blacksmith Simon Pankhurst and landscape architect Sue Small to create sculptural installations along the New Town Rivulet Linear Park in Lenah Valley, a residential suburb north of the Hobart CBD.

Much-loved by generations of local people, the rivulet has long been a place of quiet contemplation and riverbank rambles; of casual nature study walks and serious flora and fauna research; of sketching, painting and writing; all to the soundtrack of birdsong, breeze in the eucalypts and the running stream that flows down from kunanyi / Mount Wellington to meet the River Derwent.

An earlier series of sculptured bollards and poles by Audrey Hutchinson had become unstable and had to be removed. After extensive community consultation, key themes for the new installations emerged – flora and fauna; geology and geomorphology; threatened plant and animal species; and the imprint and impact of people.

A particularly intriguing aspect of the location that informed the thematic development was the proximity of the museum built in the early 1840s in the Greek revival style on the instructions of Lady Jane Franklin, whose husband Sir John Franklin was Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land.

Lady Franklin planned the building as a glyptothek, a place for the display of sculpture and paintings, but it grew to include collections that reflected her deep interest in the botany, zoology and geology of the colony.

The artists' response to the brief and the community consultation that followed was to design and construct two major sculptural installations as well as a series of smaller waymarkers that encompassed these themes.

'Flora' is a four-metre tall sculpture that references two local plant species, bluebell (Wahlenbergia spp) and kangaroo grass (Themeda triandra), combining them to suggest a posy of wildflowers that Lady Franklin may have gathered on her walks along the rivulet. Simon Pankhurst constructed the steelwork using forged twisted rods and Corten plate steel while Wendy Edwards created the petals and seed heads from glazed and unglazed ceramic forms.

She explains “bringing the two materials together in a strong and robust way was a difficult but eventually satisfying process.

“Simon and I both found working at this scale with two such different materials was challenging – but a lot of fun.”

Pankhurst agrees, adding “yes, this is big steel and the decorative ceramic elements are also large.

“Incorporating the ceramics into the structural lines of the steel raised problems that we had to solve together.”

However, things didn't always go smoothly, as Edwards explains.

“Simon and I live and work near each other in Birchs Bay, 40 kilometres south of Hobart.

“'From my studio I could often hear the clang of his hammer as he worked on the sculptures – and occasionally an outburst when things weren't quite going to plan!”

'Foray' is a series of smaller waymarkers, placed close to the ground at five sites of interest. Together, their profile suggests the skyline of kunanyi /Mount Wellington; independently, their sinuous form reflects the bends of the rivulet. Wendy's glazed ceramic panels, carrying text and illustrations particular to the locations, are set within the frames of bent steel bar.

'Fauna' is a lively and vibrant sculpture of scrolled steel bar and a variety of hand-made ceramic tiles. Referencing the native fish, a species of Galaxias that has survived despite the impact of people on their environment, this piece is installed in a clearing with a view down to the rivulet and up towards the mountain.

Landscape architect Sue Small, the third member of the collaborative team, worked closely with Simon and Wendy to select the most appropriate locations for the sculptures.

Small explains “a key aspect with 'Flora' and 'Fauna' was to achieve a balance between the proportions and the positioning of the works, so that they respond as well as possible to their surroundings.

“I feel that this has been very successfully achieved with the two large-scale sculptures.”

City of Hobart Lord Mayor Sue Hickey says that close community consultation was a feature of the project.

Lord Mayor Hickey states “local people have a strong commitment to this part of the Rivulet, especially with its connection to the Lady Jane Franklin Museum.

“A good example of the depth of interest among locals and the value of their input was the multi-faceted contribution we had from residents.”

The works were installed alongside the New Town Rivulet in December 2014. When walkers encounter them during a stroll through the riverside forest, their experience is enriched and their understanding of the rivulet’s place in history and the natural world is enhanced. 
Chris Viney

Click here for more information.

Images (top) courtesy of Jonathan Wherret; (middle) the creative artists behind the sculptures, blacksmith Simon Pankhurst, landscape architect Sue Small and ceramicist Wendy Edwards.

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