Sonata: The bull and the child

A little girl, in her skirt and her gumboots, plays a violin on the back of a mighty bull. It's a sight sculptors Suzie Bleach and Andrew Townsend hope will capture visitors to the sculpture trail for more than a moment. "Something that’s very dear to our heart is the theme of man’s relationship with nature, with other species, our relationship with the environment," Andy said. "We’re conscious of the fact there’s evidence everywhere of a loss of balance in nature and we wanted to make a work that really talked about addressing that and something that expressed a balance and a symbiosis." The artists, given free rein for this project, considered both the history and the richness of the agricultural industry in the Lachlan Valley in choosing their subject. "The agricultural industry is huge so we wanted to acknowledge your industry," Suzie said. "The bull, for us, is this symbol of wild, untameable, natural kind of energy - we wanted to build this mountain of muscle and testosterone," Andy explained. Then, on his broad back, a little girl playing her violin. "Most sculpture in Australia, in fact the world, is all about the male so it was really important to us that it was a female," Suzie said. They chose a child not only for contrast but as a symbol of vulnerability. "In talking about this balance in all things we needed to talk about that vulnerability," Suzie said. And then there's the impossibility of the situation - it's an invitation to the visitor. Andy hopes people will come in close, walk around Sonata, and touch it. It's as if the little girl holds the massive bull captive with her music. "It’s a massive bull made of steel … nevertheless there’s, I think, an energy," Andy said. Sonata is at Warroo Reserve.

Sonata: The bull and the child

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