Olivia O'Connor, Eagles Above My Parents Place (ART, OBJECTS 2022)

Photos:

Olivia O'Connor

Video tour

https://www.facebook.com/oliviaoconnorcarving/videos/1359066924569265

Living in South Gippsland (Vic) I am often lucky enough to see Wedge Tailed Eagles soaring above the hills. I find these huge, powerful birds to be awe inspiring, mesmerising and beautiful, all of which I have tried to capture in this sculpture. The base is from an old Red Gum fence post from the farm, I had to navigate my way around so many nails and staples before I could carve and rasp the gently rolling hills, then sanding them smooth. The 2 eagles are carved from local Blackwood that fell in a big storm, these beautiful tress are all across South Gippsland and I just love to see them. I have carved the eagles with energy and expression - I am most proud of how I angled the facets straight from my gouge to make the feathers. The eagles fly on 1.6mm stainless steel braising rod, it is firm enough to keep the birds perfectly upright, but also has a lovely playful nature, tap the birds and they will gently swing from side to side before settling back to their static soaring position. H 561 x L 300 x W 93 mm Red Gum, Blackwood, steel, oil.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.