Coffs artists Jeremy Sheehan, John Vanderkolk, Mark George’s sculpture stopped by lockdown

A trio of Coffs Coast artists have had to think on their feet in an effort to get their 4.2m work to Queensland in time for opening day.

At first it was a simple plan. Construct a massive sculpture, take it apart and reassemble it in Queensland for one of the country’s biggest outdoor art shows.

However, as the NSW Covid-19 outbreak worsened that simple plan became more complex as Jeremy Sheehan, John Vanderkolk and Mark George try to find a way to get a 4.2m work from Woolgoolga to the Swell Sculpture Festival in Currumbin.

“We have a Plan A and then two or three other plans,” Mr Sheehan said.

Coffs Coast artists Mark George, John Vanderkolk and Jeremy Sheehan have been working on 'Navigator' for SWELL Sculpture Festival in Currumbin.

But now they are scrambling to have the massive work transported by freight and installed by a professional while they watch on via live video.

Mr George had considered taking it to the border and engaging in a strange border exchange with someone on the other side.

The work being assembled.

They also abandoned the idea of taking it up the coast when they heard news of other yachts running foul of the authorities trying to cross the border by sea.

“Swell have been really kind to us and they’re bending over backwards to get the work there,” Mr Sheehan said.

He said the festival was a fantastic opportunity for sculptors to see their work outside with stacks of people getting to view it.

“It’s something you can never get in a gallery, you get this amazing natural light, the borrowed landscape of everything around it and you get people engaging with it in a different way,” he said.

John Vanderkolk works on Navigator. He and fellow artists have had to formulate several plans to get their work up to the festival after border closures and lockdowns were announced.

The trio’s work was inspired by little terns and their “amazing journey of migration” from Asia.

“It’s almost incomprehensible as to how they actually manage to do it, facing all the obstacles they do,” Mr Sheehan said.

“And then when they get here they nest on a hedge and they are incredibly vulnerable. Despite all that they manage to pull it off.”

The sculpture exhibition will have more than 65 large scale contemporary sculptures transform the beautiful 1km stretch of Currumbin Beach into an outdoor art gallery from September 10 to 19.

While the team said it would be “devastating” not to be there, they wanted the work to serve as a sense of hope.

The 4.2 metre work is a representation of the little tern migration to the east coast of Australia from Asia.

“Regardless of what is happening at the moment, art and the creative industries is always a bit of light at the end of the tunnel,” Mr Sheehan said.

“We hope that by putting our work outside in this amazing space that people go and see what amazing stuff is right there under their feet, instead of experiencing things on devices and remotely.”

Mr George said the difficulties encountered had “extended the story” of their work and had challenged the trio to do things they weren’t used to.

“This journey that we have now been on is very similar to the one the little terns go on,” he laughed.

“We have been smashed with all sorts of obstacles.”

For more information about Swell Sculpture Festival visit their website.