A stunning new artwork was positioned amongst the Himalayan Cedars of the National Arboretum Canberra on Friday, the start of a Forest Sculpture Gallery taking shape on the site.
Fashioned from stainless steel chain and standing more than three metres high, the artwork, called Cloak, is a magical addition to the forests, with the piece "inspired by old-growth hollow trees found throughout Australia".
The work was originally commissioned for the exhibition Contour 556 in Canberra in 2020.
Cloak had its start in a photographic series by artist Jeremy Blincoe who trained his camera over months to explore the life of a single tree in Carlton Gardens in Melbourne.
Blincoe then collaborated with fellow artist Michael Van Dam on the sculpture, drawing on the latter's expertise with stainless steel mesh, to achieve a "porous yet strong and durable form for the tree".
Blincoe said he couldn't think of a "more ideal" place for his sculpture, than an arboretum, and hoped the artwork would eventually become part of the forest.
"And, hopefully, over time there will be a sapling planted within and it becomes sort of one within that forest," he said.
"I plan to photograph it regularly as well. I guess in planting the sapling, it sort of becomes frame, because it's stainless steel you'll be able to see it grow over time and in the changing seasons. And maybe people take a picture with their kids and go back there 10 years later. It's a marker and a frame as well."
Mr Blincoe is also exhibiting three works in Lake Burley Griffin in this year's Contour 566 in October.
Cloak, meanwhile, is just the start of what is hoped will be an inspiring outdoor sculpture gallery at the arboretum, with 20th century and contemporary pieces scattered throughout its 44,000 trees.
The not-for-profit gallery is relying on donations, both financial and in-kind to acquire the sculptures. The gallery is overseen by an advisory committee.
Cloak is the second work purchased, with the first, a piece by Ian Marr to be installed soon. Another sculpture at the arboretum, Backwards Attitude, by Louis Pratt, has also been moved from Forest Drive to the Mesa Oak forest.
