Artists and architects are putting the final touches on their designs for the 19th edition of the Swell Sculpture Festival, the annual exhibition that sees dozens of large-scale sculptures erected along Currumbin Beach on the Gold Coast.
For the third year in a row, architect Hooman Jaffar and architecture graduate Taylah Jardine of Real Space Creative are presenting a sculpture at the festival, where most works are produced by artists, both local and international.
Their sculpture this year, titled #Lifetime and produced with carpenter Owen Thompson, is an exploration of time featuring a series of timber beams buried in the sand and rising up in a circle formation.
A concept image of #Lifetime by architect Hooman Jaffar, architecture graduate Taylah Jardine and carpenter Owen Thompson.
“You’re going to feel like you’re in a forest,” said Hooman. “The most joy is watching children interact with the pieces – whether they’ll run through it or use it as a playground.”
Their sculpture will be one of around 70 Australian and international sculptural artworks created by more than 145 artists at this year’s festival, which is running from 10 to 19 September.
The main exhibition along Currumbin Beach will be accompanied by Swell Kids Elements, an interactive sculpture park for families to enjoy, where there will be performance art, outdoor cinema, sculpture workshops and masterclasses, outdoor kids’ library, guided sculpture walks and artists talks and panels.
Swell Sculpture Festival co-founder and artistic director Natasha Edwards said the festival was a unique opportunity to present temporary artwork. “While its presence is short lived it leaves a lasting impression through the reverberations of the artist’s voices and the echoes of memories and shared conversations,” she said.
“Each sculpture tells its story, and collectively these stories emanate the essence of Swell.”
