A JAIL is ordinarily a place people are keen to escape from – but when it’s a tourist attraction in its own right, and decorated especially with dramatic artworks, it’s a great place to visit.
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So the doors at the historic Trial Bay Gaol will be thrown open to the public on Sunday, August 6 for the official launch of this year’s Sculptures in the Gaol exhibition.
The welcoming party will consist of members of the Gaol Guardians and the Friends of Trial Bay Gaol.
South West Rocks Chamber of Commerce and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service NPWS is issuing an invitation to the 2017 Sculpture in the Gaol Exhibition which will run until September 2.
There is over $5000 in prizes and schools in the Macleay area are encouraged to enter the Schools Sculpture in the Gaol Exhibition and/or the Schools Photographic/Art Exhibition.
Volunteering as a Gaol Guardian, at the Sculpture in the Gaol exhibition a couple of years ago, propelled local artist John Wilby to try his hand at creating sculptures of his own.
“The interest in art was always there thanks to influence of an artistic aunt of mine,” said Mr Wilby, a resident at The Rocks.
“Observing the work of other sculptors up close, that made me think I’d like to have a go myself.”
Mr Wilby has been creating sculptures for a little over a year and riding a wave of inspiration driven by years of experience working on cattle stations and close observations of wildlife.
“I once stopped the car to pick up a turtle that was crossing and put it in a safe place. As I stepped back, a large dragon fly came to rest on the turtle’s shell, it was the last thing I expected to happen and it led me to create a piece depicting the unusual pairing,” he said.
While Mr Wilby’s sculptures exude a clear artistic signature, the process of re-purposing found items into new works of art is a common technique.
One only needs to travel as far as Eungai Creek in the Nambucca Valley to find another artist, Will Cartwright, who sees quirky creatures hiding in nothing more than a clutch of spoons and springs.
Fish, bugs, crabs and wilderbeest emerge from Mr Cartwright’s alchemic mix of inspiration and myriad materials usually headed for landfill.
“I see each sculpture as a mini engineering task. Sometimes I revisit solutions I’ve come up with for attaching elements together, often using rivets as part of the design, but usually I can’t repeat or improve on that initial rush of inspiration,” he said.
For further information, find Sculpture in the Gaol on Facebook and follow @sculptureinthegaol on Instagram.
