Courage: The art of William Eicholtz
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“This is a truly rare and wonderful opportunity to watch a sculpture emerge from clay sculpted by William’s hand, through the stages of the casting foundry and then to fabrication and installation”.
Duration
47.30
Director
Andrea and Peter Hylands
Cinematography
Andrea Hylands
Creative cowboy films would like to thank - William Eicholtz / Perrin sculpture foundry, Bill Perrin, Nicole Byrne, Warwick Perrin, Nick Perrin / J K Fasham, John Fasham, Ben Fasham, Tony Cleland, Sean Elder-Baudo and Peter Osborne.
In this film we join sculptor William Eicholtz on a journey of creativity. The journey is contemporary but reflecting ancient techniques as William creates an important and complex work, full of skill and meaning.
William Eicholtz is an artist who has taken figurative art from its traditional lineage, reforming and placing it firmly in current artistic dialogue. The male nude figure is a central theme throughout William’s work with the sculpture Courage, one of a series of distinguished and award winning works of art.
In 2005 William won Australia’s national sculpture prize the prestigious Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award for The Comrade's Reward, a work in the form of a traditional allegorical garden sculpture.
Courage is a bronze sculpture made by using the ancient technique of lost wax casting. The sculpture is inspired by the iconic character of the Cowardly Lion in the story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and our hero’s contemplation of what it means to possess the courage to be yourself, no matter who you are.
“No sculptor works totally alone to produce a large public work and I have the privilege to work with team from J K Fasham who are sculpture fabricators and installers. Like the Perrin Foundry, Fasham are a family business with a genuine love of fine art and helping artists. The generations of knowledge and skill these businesses contribute are invaluable to an artist as they share their technologies to help an artist create their vision.
Together we did a lot of designing and thinking to make my ‘yellow brick road’ plinth a reality. The formwork in the little light wells, let alone the internal channels for electric wiring, was a feat of engineering in itself. I really think the up lighting from this crazy cobblestone path is going to make the sculpture really special and unique, as well as tell more of the Cowardly Lion story”.
The work, which honours the contribution, culture and diversity of the GLBTIQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer) communities, is dedicated to the legacy of Ralph McLean (1957–2010). Ralph, Australia’s first openly gay Lord Mayor (City of Fitzroy,1984) was a leading advocate for gay rights, social justice and the arts.
Courage was commissioned by the City of Yarra, a progressive inner Melbourne local government area with a diverse population with nearly 30 per cent of its residents born outside of Australia.
The traditional owners of the land in Yarra are the Wurundjeri people and we honour them here.
As the sculpture Courage now stands next to the Fitzroy Town Hall it proclaims the right of all members of Yarra’s community to be listened to, to be safe, and to be accepted. In a contemporary community we do not want to accept the idea of exclusion but to provide the means for minorities to express themselves because this leads to greater tolerance and understanding.
The film’s producers Andrea and Peter Hylands state:
“Just because a group is different and perhaps small in number, this should no longer be an excuse for intolerance, misconception and stereotyping and particularly no excuse for discrimination. Kindness and consideration are always the best path”.
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Highlights from the documentary
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