Damian Vick loves steel. So much so he’s been working with it artistically for more than ten years.
Recently Damian answered the call for public art by the City of Casey and was chosen from three shortlisted artists to create a piece of work at the Barton Reserve sporting precinct in Cranbourne West.
Damian’s work ‘Faster. Higher. Stronger’ was born through visiting the area and seeing the connection that the precinct has with sport and wellbeing.
“We identified this place as between a school, a medical centre, a community centre and sporting fields. It was sort of earmarked as a centre of wellbeing and health,” Damian said.
The work depicts three steel figures impacting upon and shattering three seven-metre-high steel pillars. Each of the figures is enacting a non-specific sporting action such as running or jumping. The pillars weigh more than 1.4 tonnes each.
“I tried to create a work that was more about personal best and about involvement rather than winning at all costs.”
The piece was conceptualised over three months, with construction taking four months. The final installation took three full days.
Damian’s first opportunity to develop large scale work was in 2013, when he built an abstract work for “The Guild” Apartment building in Southbank. Since then his most notable sculptural works have been for Yarra Valley Grammar School and the Township of Forbes in NSW. He is currently working on another two public works due to be installed later this year outside Condoblin (NSW), and The Great Eastern Way, South Morang.
