1992 Looking and Listening for the Sea: Monument to the Hinterlands

Media: cast bronze on hardwood and painted wood base.

In Dibble’s vast history of art, the period 1990 to 1993 was when he concerned himself with what was, essentially, storytelling.

He turned to stories told in his youth, of heroes and overcoming obstacles, bringing these to sculpture with a viewpoint that was profoundly different and his own. The stories are of a loosely woven narrative, the more wonderful for their spill into exuberance and humour.

The works from this period incorporated the idea of myths. Two creatures often made an appearance – the rabbit and the mermaid. Together they functioned as an odd sort of duo; the mermaids as hero figures – carrying to safety boats or a sheep slung across their shoulders - with the rabbit a silent on-looker. Rabbits and this mythical sea creature may seem an incongruous mix, but these are dreamy loose meanderings. Rabbits on boats were signs of good luck, and rabbits are creatures both cute and cuddly but also utterly destructive. Looking and Listening for the Sea: Monument to the Hinterlands plays on our fondness for a watery coast. The mermaid holds a giant shell to her ear, the trick we show children of hearing the sounds of ocean, while as nurturing protector she cradles a small fish.

This work was donated by a private buyer, to sit in the Begonia House within the Lady Norwood Rose Garden at Wellington Botanic Garden.