Melburnian, the Carlton Inn, 1970 2017

Summary

Artist Statement This work was conceived as a commemoration of the people on the streets of Melbourne going about their tasks. In contrast to the named and celebrated figures who are often the subject of bronze sculptures, particularly in public buildings, the anonymous figure here is dressed in the fashion of the day and is on her way somewhere, carrying something. It is a recollection of a moment in Melbourne’s history. When this work was being made, the Carlton Inn, an historic early Melbourne building, had been destroyed. I took the opportunity to also make a gesture of remembrance to this part of Melbourne’s lost architectural history, evident in the finial to the left of the figure and in the title of the work. The work is cast in bronze and patinated in black, because black bronze complements the sandstone and the bluestone of the Victorian architecture of the Town Hall. I also remembered the black bronze sculpture of Laocoon and his sons in the town hall collection. The durable nature of bronze makes it an important material for a sculpture in a public collection. The work can be bolted securely anywhere, inside or out, even on the footpath outside where the Carlton Inn once stood. It is weatherproof and, once fixed, robust in terms of damage or theft. Linda Marrinon, December 2016