Sculpture By The Sea should blow us away again this year

THIS giant bubblegum boy is set to pose with thousands of snap-happy tourists at Bondi Beach.

Josie Diaz (3) blowing bubbles at Bubble No:5 by artist Qian Sihua.

IT is tipped to be the most-photographed artwork at Sculpture by the Sea, the annual event which opens to the public tomorrow on the stunning coastal path between Bondi and Tamarama.

Qian Sihua's playful figure of a bubblegum boy certainly inspired three-year-old Josie Diaz to blow a few bubbles of her own.

The startlingly red stainless steel sculpture is titled Bubble No:5.

"Qian Sihua has suddenly got this international career happening," Sculpture by the Sea director David Handley said.

"It will be the most-photographed work in the show."

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josie Diaz (3) blowing bubbles at Bubble No:5 by artist Qian Sihua.

Artist Matt Calvert putting the finishing touches on his Girl Pointing.

Bubble No:5 is energised by the tension between "the fragile, fleeting motif (the bubble) and the hard, durable material of the sculpture", Qian Sihua said in the exhibition catalogue.

The artist arrived from China on Monday for the installation of the work, which occupies the coveted sandstone lookout on the clifftops below Marks Park.

Sculpture by the Sea's opening ceremony was meant to be today. But in deference to the critical bushfire conditions forecast for today, Handley postponed the ceremony until Friday.

"It just didn't feel right," Handley said.

The exhibition site buzzed with last-minute activity yesterday as artists unpacked and installed their sculptures.

Of the 106 sculptures on view this year, humorous ones include a portable toilet cubicle with a soundtrack that indicates two people stuck inside.

There's an aluminium stairway to heaven, a storm-damaged caravan called Grace, Polynesian leis draped across a boulder at water level, and dogs made from mirrors.

A forklift on Tamarama Beach lowered a giant polystyrene iceberg onto the sand. Called Berg, by Lucy Warnock and Peter Wise, the iceberg will be joined on the sand by a massive QR code, a washed-up fishing boat, and 450 hardwood garden stakes painted to resemble an Ikea fabric.

MORE OF THIS YEAR'S SCULPTURE BY THE SEA ARTWORKS:

Washed Up by Tunny (Antony) Kraus on Tamarama Beach.

Time Frame by Maggie McFadyen and Griffen Lim.

Artist Carl Billingsley putting the finishing touches on his Red Centre on Tamarama Beach.