Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi officially opens 26th exhibition with Professor Shen Lieyi announced as recipient of prestigious $100,000 Aqualand Sculpture Awards for ‘Tracing’
Chinese artist Shen Lieyi has become the first Asian sculptor to receive the prestigious $100,000 Aqualand Sculpture Award, one of Australia’s richest art awards.
Lieyi’s winning entry, Tracing, is an abstract work of bronze and granite comprising an upturned tree root embedded in a slab of polished stone.
Lieyi plays with the metaphor of going against the flow or walking upstream.
“I’ve always tried to integrate Eastern wisdom and thinking into my creations, and the acceptance of my works by Australians and tourists has inspired me,” the professor of art said in a statement accepting the prize.
“With the help of art, we can share different ideas and thoughts in public spaces, which I believe is the most fascinating aspect of art. A sculpture is not complete until it is seen by the public.”
Founding director of Sculpture by the Sea, David Handley said it been a real surprise that no artist from Asia had received its major acquisitive award before, given the Japanese, Chinese and Korean artists who had, in large numbers, made the walk such an international exhibition.
“Lieyi’s work is structurally fascinating and brilliantly executed,” he said. “The subtlety of the granite carving and uprooted tree holding itself up in the current of life is stunning.”
Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi is the world’s largest free to the public sculpture exhibition. The spectacular coastal walk is once again transformed into a 2km long sculpture park over three weeks featuring more than 100 sculptures by artists from Australia and across the world.
Selected by the exhibition’s Judging Panel, the Aqualand Sculpture Award is an acquisitive award with the sculpture gifted by Aqualand for permanent public placement.
Source: Linda Morris, The Sydney Morning Herald