COURAGE, 2014

2100mm cast bronze on light up dancefloor
City of Yarra, Whitlam Park
To be unveiled July 2014

The appropriation of the classic image of the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of OZ is the basis for this public sculpture.

The classical youth, a symbol of life’s potential, is wearing his own version of the Cowardly Lion costume. Is he putting on this guise or shedding the image? This image also directly refers to the mythological half man, half beast of so many ancient cultures. He considers the badge of courage intently. Is it the courage of his predecessors or his own bravery he is recognizing? This also acknowledges the courage of the people living with AIDS. The costume head, which lies next to him, engages passersby with its outward gaze, just as the hero looks inward at his call to courage. The Cowardly Lion is a timeless hero of the classic film and children’s book, The Wizard of Oz, and still reinterpreted and relevant today. Immediately recognizable as the iconic sissy, he is also a hero in search of courage.

He is a symbol for all who struggle to find the courage to be who they are... to find that courage that was inside themselves all along!