<\/p>\n
John Petrie with his winning work in Marks Park, Tamarama.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Janie Barrett<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cI had this idea of that angle. It just popped into my head and I thought, \u2018That\u2019s a good idea\u2019\u201d says Petrie, 70, from Clovelly. \u201cI did the drawing, wrote 23.5\u00b0 on it and submitted it and then I got in and thought, \u2018Oh, shit. Now I\u2019m going to have to make this thing!\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIt took me six months and a lot of stress. I had to select the stone and decide if it was too big or too little and get it out of the mountains and arrange it.<\/p>\n \u201cThis award \u2026 means these monumental boulders from Australia, the oldest continent on Earth, have found a place in sculpture. Art is a serious business and speaks of optimism and possibility. It shows confidence in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n The top boulder in the work appears to have been sliced through and the four resulting faces are highly polished.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the best things about working like this is that when you cut open the stone, you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re going to find,\u201d says Petrie, who started out as a painter before turning to working in stone in his late 30s. \u201cSo when this was cut open, I saw all these little patterns. They look like stars in a way. Sort of like a Milky Way, right? So it\u2019s a work that kind of says everything about everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Sculpture By The Sea CEO and artistic director David Handley said he was \u201cdelighted\u201d Petrie had won in the anniversary year.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been in since year one,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve seen John\u2019s practice and himself evolve over those years. This is a major, major work. \u201cIt\u2019s been great having John on the journey with us since he first exhibited in the first exhibition. We could not be happier for him.\u201d<\/p>\n Petrie\u2019s winning work joins 104 other sculptures ranged along the 2 km coastal walk between Bondi and Tamarama. Some 450,000 people are expected to flock to the annual show, claimed by organisers to be the world\u2019s largest free outdoor sculpture exhibition, over the next 18 days. That contrasts with numbers for the first event, in 1997, which drew a far more modest 25,000 visitors.<\/p>\n Already on launch day, crowds were building and visitors queuing up for selfies in front of some of the most photogenic works. Handley said social media, particularly Instagram, had become an increasingly important part of Sculpture By The Sea.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we have a really Instagrammable series of sculptures or even just one that people go crazy about, then our visitation will increase by as much as 10 per cent,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n In recognition of 2023 being a milestone year, sponsor Aqualand has upped the first prize money to $100,000 from the previous $70,000. Aqualand also announced it had signed on as principal sponsor for another three years. Asked what he would do with his windfall, Petrie said a new ute was definitely on the cards.<\/p>\nMost Viewed in Culture<\/h2>\n
From our partners<\/h3>\n