McClelland Gallery

Yesterday a friend and I wandered down to the McClelland Gallery in Langwarrin to see if it was appropriately doll friendly for a possible meet up. It had been a long time since I was last there, about 15 years I think, and she’d never been before.

We had a wonderful time and took a bunch of pics, but not nearly enough to capture what the place was like.

But lets start at the start.

There were there of these moving sculptures in the park. They were recent additions and don’t appear on the map so I’m not sure if they are permanent instillations or not. This particular one was located near the car park. The top was made up of 3 segments that when in line formed a circle, but as you see from the pics they didn’t do that often, or for long. It also has a joint in the pole near the top so it could turn into the wind better. The mechanism is purely ball bearings and is operated by the wind, their movements were so graceful.

Here are Rhyannon and Fir sitting on a sculpture, if the map is to be believed it’s a statue called Jabaroo, but I think perhaps this is another that wasn’t on the map as I don’t remember reading that on the sign. But maybe

I was particularly excited to meet Fir as she’s the sculpt I’d like to have as Young Rhyannon if I ever get younger selves.

Freya was impressed by the large naked man, Peter Schipperheyn’s Thus Spake (I’ll have another pic of him later). We were concerned at first that his proportions were off. His legs and hips seemed far larger than his torso, but from our vantage point from lunch he looked a lot more normal, so perhaps he’s to be viewed from a distance. (Though Frey seemed keen to get up close.)

Fir sitting on a piece that I think was called Shore Column by Davis Wilson, if it’s not that piece it was another in the series

Several of the pieces at the gallery were designed to be interacted with. This piece was 4 large pieces of wire punched with holes, 2 green, 2 red set out to form 2 circles the green circle inside the red. From the outside they were quite uninteresting…

but once you walked inside the green and red holes formed interesting patterns and distorted the landscape surrounding them.

This piece titled Paesaggio Cariatide (Landscape Caryatide) by Norma Redpath is a large tree like sculpture, small base with an outwards reaching upper section. I didn’t get a pic of the overall structure, but the stairs at one side were perfect for sitting.

One can see in this picture how Rhyannon was growing pissy at me for taking her out on a cold day with no shoes and a flyaway wig. (want to see that closer? here ya go:)

She sulked most of the day. LOL – Bad Dolly Mummy

Freya tried to hide from me in this little cave,

but I found her

This piece was called Torus -Hidden and revealed by Adrian Page.
Now I love all art that’s round and shiny, but this had the added fun of sequences of numbers punched into the outside. I felt if one wrote them down and stared at them long enough one could break the code and it would say something.

This piece we were having too much fun playing with to take in the name, it may have been Port by Clive Murray-White. That seems to fit.
Anyway while I was arranging dolls at this end, Mawgy wandered around the back and took these two artistic shots.
Freya from behind.
and the Ever Glowing Fir from behind.
Fir looks almost see through!

This piece might have been Fourth Stairway by Ian McKay, but that doesn’t seem right to me. In any case it reminded us both of a giant Skull. Sadly it ate our dolls:

I’m pretty sure Homespace by Darren Davison was both Mawgy’s and my favourite piece. The outside was a basic silver hut. It looked so utilitarian that at first I wasn’t sire if it was a piece or a shed. But it was too shiny for a shed so we wandered over. I announced I was going inside even before I saw the sign inviting us to enter. The first ‘corridor’ was ok, lit as it was from the outside, but I turned the corner to be confronted with a wall of black. I could sense where the walls were, but I’d be lying if I said I could see them. I hesitated and considered turning back, not knowing how well they maintain their pieces. Could there be cobwebs? Could there be something unpleasant or smelly in there that would be upsetting? But I went on. At the second corner something frightening and wonderful happened. I was walking along looking at my feet watching where I stepped, when suddenly it looked like the floor dropped away. This shocked me a moment and I paused again, then carefully I reached out my foot and put it on the reflective floor.

It was a strange moment, looking down into the abyss of the missing floor, and seeing stars.

For stars there were, everywhere.

In the roof there were all these tiny holes cat, in various sizes and arrangements looking like constellations (yet we couldn’t recognise any). So above us there were stars, and below also.

(yeah I know the floor pic didn’t work well.)
It was magical.
We lingered there a little while.

In the woods by homespace was a do not touch sculpture (Pollinator phenotype by Simeon Nelson) … Freya was very very bad.

But she told me she wasn’t really touching it, merely flying over it.

I didn’t believe her.
I could see why it was do not touch, and we shouldn’t have, a section had been broken off at some stage and the paint had several rubs. Freya didn’t seem to add to the damage …. hopefully

This is taken from the inside of Spillwater (Matthew Cox and Darren Davison). The outside looked like a rainwater tank that had pitched sideways. Inside as a little window with distorted glass that looked out over the pond.
Fir preferred looking in:

see she glows!

These were interesting. The piece isn’t listed on the map so I can’t tell you it’s name. But I’m sure you’ll agree it’s quite morbid yet fascinating.

This piece was quite interesting given the setting. In the middle of the trees was some concrete and asphalt shapes with a signpost (no standing) and this rubbish bin. This piece I remember was titled Urban Real but it isn’t on the map so I cant tell you the artist.

While I was lining up for a second closer pic Frey got sick of waiting so dived head first out of the bin, splat into the dirt, she looked so funny with her legs and arms splayed out.

She was ok.

Just round the corner from There was White Ape by Lisa Roet. Freya decided to say hello even though she was still annoyed at me for not catching her.

This was definitely a fave of mine … it doesn’t seem to ne named on the map either. But ot was 3 poles suspending all these rocks by wires off the ground in a circle.




They reminded Mawgy of planetary rings. They were very cool.

Then there was Tarax Play Sculpture by Peter Corlett. It was a whole lot of white bubbles. Some were open. As you can see the inside was graffitied, I’d almost say that was part of the artist vision.



Fir checking out the handprints.

Inside the bubbled the wind and car noises echoed and reverberated making a sound that reminded Mawgy and I of didgeridoos.

The Micky isn’t on the map so I can’t tell you who it was by, but it’s clearly a political commentary. poor Micky is being tortured on a steel platform that’s wrapped in barbed wire bringing together several pop culture, religious and political icons to form a statement of belief.

As we were leaving the sun broke free of the clouds and the lake was all a sparkle. The camera didn’t quite capture it.

In this pic you see Snuffle by Sebastian De Mauro (the green astroturf pieces) the propeller was another moving piece I don’t have the name of, and Island Sculpture by Inge King on the island, you can’t really see the ones behind but another moving one was back there.

And I got another shot of Thus Spake, the naked guy.

And his friend the his sister Torso Femminile.

She was stunning I was really impressed with her. Only one side of the marble was carved, and yet so beautifully, and in terms of scale, you can just see the sky peeking over the top of the roof at the left. She was a storey tall.

We had a great day and will certainly be going back dragging as many as we can with us