To outshine The Star itself at Brisbane’s multibillion-dollar Queen’s Wharf precinct would take celestial ambition, but sculptor Lindy Lee wasn’t shooting for subtlety when she designed her latest public art installation. The bronze oblong – aptly titled Being Swallowed by the Milky Way – stands at a monolithic eight metres and weighs eight tonnes, the equivalent of four sedans. Sculptor Lindy Lee says “Being Swallowed by the Milky Way” was conceived when she was a child 67 years ago.
Credit: Courtney Kruk Its metal surface, perforated by 25,000 holes, mimics a shimmering light-filled galaxy of stars, casting an ethereal glow over the George Street foyer entrance to the entertainment precinct. “It’s been a work in progress for 67 years,” Lee said at the unveiling on Tuesday night. “The idea for this sculpture was born when I was three years old, lying on my stomach on the verandah of our old Queenslander house looking at the stars at night.
” Lee, who grew up in Kangaroo Point and Morningside, left Brisbane in the 1970s in search of richer cultural experiences to inform her practice. “Those of us who are old enough to remember ..
. we had to escape Queensland to get some culture,” she said, adding that the Brisbane she returns to today is much more open and inclusive. “It’s a complete full-circle moment [for me].
” Respected art figure Philip Bacon described Lee as one of Australia’s greatest sculptors, and he praised the prominence of her wor.