Knowing at Sculpture by the Sea in Bondi in 2023. Photos: Supplied.
A striking sculpture has been installed on Batemans Bay’s foreshore, inviting visitors to step inside and experience it from an entirely different perspective.
Standing 5.4 metres high, Knowing shimmers in the sunlight with its micaceous iron oxide finish. Sun filters through what looks like an ancient script covering the work.
Some of the words are taken from Vedic texts that South Pambula sculptor Jen Mallinson believes are as relevant today as when they were written 5000 years ago.
“I’m fascinated with ancient cultures and the evolving relationship between quantum physics and metaphysics. The very latest scientific breakthroughs in quantum physics are now validating some really ancient knowledge,” Ms Mallinson said.
After studying ceramics when she left school, Ms Mallinson spent 35 years working as a graphic designer. In 2009 she turned to steel sculpture, completing a welding course before studying engineering for heavy metal fabrication.
The sculpture was selected for Sculpture by the Sea in Bondi in 2023 and for Sculpture for Clyde in 2024.
The obelisk form, long associated with knowledge and power, represents the dual nature of existence – opposing forces in constant interplay that ultimately merge into a unified whole.
It fits two of Ms Mallinson’s long-held ambitions: creating a sculpture that people could walk inside and incorporating messages that hold deep personal and profound meaning.
Depending on the time of day, people walking inside it are imbued by the sunlight coming through the script.
She has long been fascinated by ancient scripts such as cuneiform, Hebrew and hieroglyphs and initially considered using them in her work to convey some relevant messages in an understated way.
“But I had no connection with them because I couldn’t read them,” she said. “There was nothing pulling me towards them.”
The “a-ha moment” came when she was being interviewed by a journalist at Sculpture Bermagui.
“I saw the journalist was taking shorthand and thought, this looks ancient but it isn’t. It is almost a modern form of ancient writing because hardly anyone uses it anymore.”
Ms Mallinson asked the journalist to translate selected words and phrases into shorthand.
“I wanted it to be readable but not obvious and have an ancient feel. To me shorthand was perfect for that purpose,” she said.
Ms Mallinson scanned the shorthand and transposed it into an electronic form that could be cut by laser.
“It was a painstaking process as everything had to be redrawn into shapes that could be cut,” she said. “I have no idea how long I spent on the sculpture. Along with the research and fabrication, it took hundreds of hours putting it all together.”
Sculptor Jen Mallinson gives an artist’s talk.
One whole side of the sculpture is a conscious-expanding meditation. Ms Mallinson said consciousness was rising around the planet, as people were awakening to the realisation that they were sovereign beings in all aspects of their life.
“For me, it was about getting some ancient messages out there that are still so relevant today, but in a non-obvious way,” she said.
The script itself also adds to the visual quality of the aptly named Knowing sculpture. Depending on the time of day, people walking inside it are imbued by the sunlight coming through the script.
Ms Mallinson has received great feedback about Knowing. School groups have been excited they could enter the sculpture. Even more appreciative are the women who can relate to it and can read the shorthand.
“One woman from the shorthand society in Victoria put it in their newsletter,” she said.
Most people think it is Arabic or something similar.
“It is really wonderful to me to put something on there that can be read and can inspire people,” she said.
Eventually Knowing‘s new owner, Eurobodalla Shire Council, will include a link or QR code that translates the shorthand or people can visit Ms Mallinson’s website to learn more about Knowing and the translation of the unfamiliar script.
“I am very happy that it is in Batemans Bay and out in the public domain,” Ms Mallinson said. “I hope people are interested enough to find out what it says.”
