‘Journey of a lifetime’ for artist Lindy Lee’s $14m masterpiece over … now for the rebirth
Built like a spaceship, an ancient symbol of a self-consuming snake lands on the lawns of the National Gallery, and to Lindy Lee, the career-defining masterpiece is simply ‘magical’.
A multi-million-dollar project has landed in the nation’s centre, sprawling across the lawns of the National Gallery of Australia to mark both its 40th birthday and to act as a striking emblem of the eternal cycle of rebirth.
Keenly awaited for two years since its inception, Brisbane-born artist Lindy Lee’s 13-tonne sculpture – dubbed Ouroboros – has finally crossed state borders to guard the corners of Canberra’s King Edward Terrace and Parkes Place East.
The gallery welcomed the $14m structure at 2am on Wednesday after a momentous five-day journey, with a single truck taking the mesmerising figure to its new home.
“It was the journey of a lifetime,” says Lee, as she discusses the one-off piece, noting previously with her works featured around the globe, typically she sends them off with little more than a goodbye.
“Often with the things I’ve sent abroad you never get to go with it – but watching this piece be craned in at 5am exceeded what I wanted, and that almost never happens.”
Drawing on her Chinese-Australian heritage, Lee says the work was motivated by “a sense of inclusivity and connection” – one that individuals can experience in the “length, depth, and breadth of everything that’s ever happened”, as reflected in the structure’s use of recycled materials. Constructed from mirror polished stainless steel, Ouroboros represents an ancient symbol of a snake consuming its own tail, with a sensory experience intrinsic to the sculpture’s design.
The colossal work, boasting nine metres in length, and four and half in height, is big – but “once you enter, it’s immense,” remarks Lee.
“I wanted to create that sense of intimacy in that vastness and I actually feel like I’ve done it.”
Patrons will be able to enter the “mouth” of the face and wander through the curved, dark interiors, finding streams of light through the beams emanating on the surface, as its reflective surface in daylight transforms into a canopy of stars at night.
While the project was commissioned by gallery director Nick Mitzevich two years ago, Lee says she’s been navigating the idea for four.
Ultimately her biggest lesson had nothing to do with art. “The most incredible thing I’ve learnt about truckies – they’re amazing people. I’m totally in love with them,” she says. “They are so courteous and so calm, and their concentration is fierce.”
The sculpture, now flanked either side by a pool of water on the lawns, offers the impression of being somehow suspended.
The National Gallery will stage a self-titled exhibition of Lindy Lee’s work to coincide with the unveiling of Ouroboros. It will be open to the public from October 25.
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