Statues offer golden portent in this Year of the Rat
Artist Claudia Chan Shaw has created nine golden statues to celebrate the Year of the Rat in Sydney.
Retro tin robots from the 1950s, Busby Berkeley’s famous undulating geometric formations from the 1930s and Charlie Chaplin’s 1930s Modern Times skit are a far cry from the tower of nine golden rats standing triumphantly on Circular Quay’s foreshore, but for artist Claudia Chan Shaw, they provide the basis of her design.
Commissioned by the City of Sydney for the Sydney Lunar Festival of the Year of the Metal Rat, Chan Shaw’s Robot Rat Lantern is a true representation of her original design, which has taken a year to come to life.
“When I got word my design had been picked, I was delighted,” Chan Shaw said. “It’s been a big bundle of joy to create and they just make you smile.”
The metallic gold statues in First Fleet Park symbolise wealth, fortune and strength but also nod to the modern-day rat race.
Rotating on a three-tiered tower of cogs as part of the Lunar Lanterns exhibition, they are miles away from the traditional Chinese zodiac.
“The idea for the lantern came together quickly. When you think of rats you think of industrious, busy and tireless but also sociable and inquisitive,” Chan Shaw said.
“They’re also the first animal of the zodiac so they are symbolic of new beginnings and opportunity.”
Each rat stands 2.8m tall and features a wind-up key in its back and a glowing good luck symbol in its chest that both rotate.
Chan Shaw’s tower of rats will be illuminated for the first time on Friday night with 11 other lanterns, each designed by a different artist.
“The beautiful thing is that whatever the artist imagined when they began thinking of how to depict the animal is what you see. Each is different,” she said.
“There are elements of contemporary symbolism and traditional influences in each design. But mostly the artists have let their imaginations run wild.”
The rats will be kept to return to future celebrations in different iterations and settings.
Lunar Lanterns will continue to Sunday, February 9.
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