Greg Johns Sculpture Park: With Lisa McAskill in the the Riverland region of South Australia
Greg Johns work is seen throughout our city. An organic swirl of rust-stained steel stands at one of the entry points to the Norwood Parade; another makes a bold statement outside the Convention Centre on the banks of the River Torrens.
Throughout his thirty-year career as a sculptor, Adelaide-born Greg Johns has pulled off some masterful feats of engineering both in the construction of these amazing pieces and transporting them to their final resting places.
Now his impressive sculptures are seen around the globe including the Spanish Island of Ibiza with the largest commission completed by an Australian artist in Europe. It was installed in 2005 for a Spanish businessman with a passion for South Australia and the daunting and challenging works of Greg Johns.
But throughout his three-decade-long sculptural journey Greg's been looking for a uniquely South Australian landscape to showcase his work and he's found it on the rocky yakka-lined ridges of Palmer overlooking the ancient floodplain of the River Murray.
Eleven of his own works and pieces by five other sculptors are scattered around the property.
We also caught up with Greg in his Eden Hills workshop where he was using chalk to map out his latest design on flat sheets of steel. Then begins the dramatic process of cutting, grinding and welding it all into shape.
With the aid of cranes, Greg's Guardian figures with their double helix like shapes were hauled into place. And the rusting steel highlights the sculptor's attempt to get to the very DNA of this uniquely Australian landscape.
"When you look at the Australian landscape and the colours that we really love (a lot of them) are created by iron," said Greg. "So for me this material is very reflective of this place - far more so than bronze or something like which I think belongs more to Europe.
Hence the boat sculpture near the old Cornish chimney - a reminder that we're all immigrants to this country which changes us, as much as we change it.
Greg Johns' Sculpture Park is about three kilometres out of Palmer. It will be open to the public as part of this year's SALA Festival and will again host the Palmer Sculpture Biennial in March next year.
Greg Johns Sculpture Park
3kms from Palmer
Open Noon to 4pm
Sunday Aug 12 2007
Palmer Sculpture Biennial
March 2008Published 15th July 2007
