In 2021 SWELL will be celebrating its 19th year, the annual festival has evolved to be one of Australia’s most celebrated cultural events, attracting a huge number of visitors each year to the iconic shores of Currumbin Beach, Queensland, to enjoy the open-air art experience.
2021 SWELL is Queensland’s premier outdoor sculpture exhibition and presents Australian and international artists to captivate the hearts and minds of the large audience. Set between two iconic giant rock formations along the Gold Coast’s Currumbin Beach, the vast coastal landscape encourages thought-provoking and sculpturally impressive works.
One of the main sculptors is award winning sculptor Christopher Trotter. Christopher has been creating art for the largest outdoor sculpture festival in Queensland since 2003. He has also gone on to take major art awards including the top spot in this year’s Ephemera Acquisition prize in Townsville, worth $90,000.
This year his installation, ‘Sea Shore A Sea Saw’, which he is finishing work on, makes use of recycled material to promote sustainability. The underlying theme in his evolving artwork over the last 30 years has been around looking at things in a new way, with sustainability a key element for all his work.
“These unmodified industrial objects have been re-imagined into a ‘sea shore’ inspired organic form that celebrates colour and material integrity.
“One object might be used to transport acid and another is used by a farmer. I take these unrelated objects and give them a new life.”
While Christopher has exhibited in 18 SWELL sculpture festivals, his proudest work is ‘The Scavenger’. It was not only displayed at the very first SWELL in 2003, It’s also an Olympic award-winning artwork – displayed during the 2000 Olympics.
The free 10-day outdoor exhibition along Currumbin Beach will take place from September 10-19 2021 as the festival presents small, medium and large-scale sculptures, installations, performance and digital works from more than 100 Queensland artists and over 145 Australian and international artists across the festival sites.
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Featured image : Leading Australian sculptor Christopher Trotter. photo by Nick Rains
The free 10-day outdoor exhibition along Currumbin Beach will take place from September 10-19 as the festival presents small, medium and large-scale sculptures, installations, performance and digital works from more than 100 Queensland artists and over 145 Australian and international artists across the festival sites.