I grew up in western Queensland and then moved to Brisbane, but still consider myself a country person. Spending several years in the Northern Territory has deepened my connection to the Australian landscape, and it’s inhabitants.
My mother taught art with the Queensland Flying Art School, and later at a school in Toowoomba. We always had materials at home, so I built up a large collection of ceramic pieces. I have always been good with my hands, and enjoyed working in three dimensions.
My first real sculpture was made with readily available, found materials, and was favourably received at a 1997 art prize in Kununurra judged by Betty Churcher. This encouraged me to put together my first exhibition, which was also well-received and led to further work and shows.
I am a conservationist, and a nature lover, and this comes through in my sculpture, both in subject and materials. I am inspired by our wildlife, and enjoy representing its forms rather than more abstract themes, as well as the irony of using discarded materials. I like to put together collections of pieces that inter-relate, and form a total environment.
Past exhibitions have been centred on dogs, because I like them, and they are rich in metaphorical subtext, as symbols for colonisation and taming of the wild. Recent work has focused on the uniqueness of our native fauna, and the creatures of the sea. Ben Somerville

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