My new studio. 1 Aug ’17

I’ve sculpted 6 150% life-sized bronze athlete sculpture in the past 5 years, but in April this year, I finally had a break from commissions – time to relocate to a bigger studio!

The new space is twice as big as my old studio and is also in the Fundere Studios factory in West Footscray – a great opportunity to upgrade without leaving the building. It was mind-boggling to see how much stuff was squeezed into that space – moving it all out was a bit like one of those comedy skits where 50 people climb out of a mini minor.

Producing those giant sculptures in there was always a challenge in terms of spatial arrangement and I was constantly moving pieces of equipment around and finding creative storage solutions. I couldn’t take on more than one major project at a a time. Even having 2 or 3 visitors made the space very crowded! Not any more.

Renovating and insulating the new space took a couple of months [approx. 60 square metres, with 6.5m ceiling]. Every void was packed with thermal and acoustic insulation (I was lucky to source over 100m square discounted off-cuts). I hired a scissor lift and artist/handyman Pablo to install thermal ceiling insulation. Now it is much quieter (sculpture studios can be quite noisy) and cosier. I also patched the concrete floor and painted it, filled all the holes and gaps and painted the walls, made benches and lots of shelving.

My mate Andree helped build a mezzanine and office, using both new and re-purposed materials. Being able to step right away from whatever I’m working on, to have a sit and think, or even a lie down, is going to be such a luxury 🙂