“. . . down to the fingerprint.”
For over five decades, Meridian Sculpture has produced private commissions and large-scale artworks for both emerging and established artists and sculptors alike, including George Baldessin, Arthur Boyd, Jan Brown, Peter Corlett, Robert Klippel, Michael Meszaros, Louise Paramor, Lisa Roet, Andrew Rogers, and Brett Whiteley among many others.
The first commercial-scale, lost-wax foundry in Australia, Meridian Sculpture was established in 1973 by Peter Morley in South Melbourne after he emigrated from Europe. Training in London during the 1960s, Morley developed his craft and style using traditional Italian techniques, and he has been personally involved in the casting of major works by renowned English sculptors Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Elizabeth Frink, and Lynn Chadwick.
Meridian Sculpture, Melbourne, 2022. Photograph: Rosina Possingham. Courtesy Meridian Sculpture, Melbourne
For fifty years, Meridian has remained a benchmark service for the Australian art and design industry. Today, the Fitzroy-based company offers a range of services such as artwork development; maintenance and conservation; transport and installation; consulting and auditing; and introductory and advanced workshops in sculpture modelling and the basics of fine art bronze casting.
Meridian Sculpture collaborates with artists on their large-scale, high-concept projects for public memorials, architectural features, or three-dimensional prints cast in bronze. The process works with the artist, first requesting a sculpture made from wax that will be cast into bronze, capturing every detail – even down to the fingerprint. Alternatively, artists can request a “master silicone mould,” offering more freedom for repeat editions.
Once Meridian Sculpture has a wax version of the work, they then prepare the piece to burn out in the kiln with a system of “runners” (pipe-like equipment) that ensure bronze reaches all areas of the artwork. The team then spray an investment mould around the piece until it sits compactly inside a cylinder tube. “This is what goes inside the kiln where it takes a few days for the wax to burn away. This is where the name lost wax casting comes from,” shares Meridian Sculpture.
From here, molten bronze is poured into the mould. For large artworks crafted in pieces, the sections will be welded together before being lightly sandblasted to clean the surface, a patina is applied through a natural oxidisation process that achieves the desired colour; and finally, a wax coating seals the artwork and completes the process.
Some of Meridian Sculpture’s recent artworks include: The great Rescue of 1852 and Winged Victory, in Gundagai and Marrickville, New South Wales, respectively, and Michael Gudinski, at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Victoria, all sculpted by senior mould maker and wax technician Darien Pullen. Glass Boot in commemoration of AFL’s Buddy Franklin’s 1000th Goal, mould cast in bronze by Meridian Sculpture, glass blown by Ruth Allen; Skater, designed by Dean Colls and Louise Skačej, cast in bronze by Meridian Sculpture in St Kilda Esplanade, Melbourne, Victoria. And the heroic NSW RDS Memorial Garden, which materialises Alex Ellinghausen’s iconic photograph of firefighter Chris Montgomery during the 2020 bushfires, sculpted by Andrew Poppleton, cast by Meridian Sculpture.
@meridiansculpture
meridiansculpture.com
First published in print for Art Almanac‘s February 2023 issue.
