Documenting and preserving the myriad facets of many
human civilisations has been the main drive for producing
major works of art that has endured the test of time, to be
handed down to the following generations. The creating
artists have always striven to embody the spirit of the
times, adding all the instilled culture of the age to past
tradition, and utilising all the skill, natural and learned,
to produce compelling artworks, without sacrificing their
unique voice, individuality or style, a really tricky balance,
and a volatile mix, especially if you are a contemporary
artist. Complicating the formula, is the choice of medium
that the artist works in, for it is definitely a major factor in
the ease or difficulty, the size and durability of the end -
product. Masters of old, since antiquity, have chosen the
medium of sculpture for such monumental tasks, as it is
well tested and proven to live up to the task, and that is,
probably, why our artist in review chose sculpture as well.
RHYL HINWOOD is our artist in profile this month.

An Aussie artist, sculptor and stone carver, tutor and a
workshop convenor, winner of many awards and national
accolades for her amazing artistic skills, with large
number of works that are represented in many important
public and private collections. Going through Rhyl’s CV
Is an astonishing experience by itself, for over the last
twenty Years, she has completed so many major
commissioned sculptural works, some of the most
illustrious, are, the ceramic Australian Coat of Arms
in the House of Representatives in Parliament House,
Canberra, a larger than life bronze equestrian figure for
the man from snowy river”, many original designs and
sculptures in a variety of media that have been
commissioned for the most prestigious tourist resorts in
the country, memorials to the Australian forces in Malaya,
Borneo and Korea, and to the RAAF that have been
commissioned for both ANZAC square and Queens Park
in Brisbane city.

She has also produced sculpture portraits in clay, bronze
and stone, of many noted Australian icons, and to top it
all, she has completed commissioned gifts for Her
Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, Sir Edmund Hillary, Sir
Leslie Theiss, Sir Joh Bjelke-Peterson, she has also
designed and produced significant awards such as the
annual University of Queensland Alumnus of the Year
award, and the list goes on; most artists can only
dream to achieve a fraction of that!

Rhyl works from a large modern, purpose built studio
complex at Kenmore Hills, Brisbane. The Studio is well
equipped to handle very large-sized works on site and
specialises in bronze, marble, Helidon freestone and
ceramic sculpture, with dedicated drawing rooms and
extensive library in addition to modern office facilities.
If you have ever stood in front of some of Rhyl work, you
certainly will be enthralled by it’s elegance and grace.

The careful and meticulous attention to detail plus the
overall integration of the theme in the sculpture, makes
it come alive, exuding a strange and silent power, or
perhaps it the simple beauty, and the purity of artistic
expression, that harkens back to the old masters, yet
very modern with a unique character that is all it’s own.
That happened to me on a recent visit to the Mater
hospital at Cleveland, where I live, I was really captivated
by the atmosphere that her work had created and the
enhanced spirituality that an original work of art has added,
and I don’t mean just a decorative artwork, but a work of
art that has been, uniquely conceived, laboured at
nurtured with love then brought to life as a glowing
example of the modern craftsperson’s creation!

One of the most noteworthy works that Rhyl has been
working on is the Great Court of the University of QLD.
After winning a commission in 1976 to complete that
monumental work, twenty years on, she still works on
it regularly; so far having created over two hundred and
fifty individual carvings, several of large proportion. This
work is of historic, long-term significance and has been
listed as such by the National Trust, since 1990.

On a technical note, the website (really a homepage),
could do with a bit of a face-lift, and more attention to
optimising the images on the pages as they are too large
for the average surfer to download without some delays,
also adding some extra images would surely enhance the
site and would add to the visitor’s overall pleasure.
That should not deter anybody though from enjoying an
extended visit to the site, I really had a very enjoyable
experience visiting, and you will too!