Marshall, seeing as you asked: here are two views of "Betrayed" which is the proper name of the sculpture I photographed and posted as "the Destroyer" with a bit of an explaination...A sculpture from the William Rickett's Sanctuary (near Melbourne)...The sculptor identified with the Aboriginal Indigenous populous of Australia quite strongly. He had spent a lot of time in Central Australia living with them...this sculpture is his representation of the coming of the white man...the hat is a crown of bullets...I'll post the full sculpture for you...This first is just the Man... created from three photos stitched together...I just tried to post it but it was too big (> 200kb) this is an optimised version...

Now this is the "Pan-Out" version...I tried to get it all in, but there is not much room to frame your shots how you would like them. Below the man is a representation of an Aboriginal, crucified; on the right a representation of the Sculptor himself, who being a white man, felt ashamed & betrayed by what had been done to both the Aboriginal people and the Land itself. Between these figures, are representations of the native wildlife, killed by the man...Possums, Kangaroos, Koalas, Bird life etc. You can't see these too well due to my poor photography of the subject. Sorry! This is (some of) the story behind that particular image, as I understand it. Hope I haven't bored you with all this! :-)>

Beautiful! I have to ask cause I can't remember if you said it or not......are these carved out of the trees or out of stone?

Thanks Michelle, I can't remember if I said or not! :-)> Some of his sculptures were carved out of the tree stumps around...others were made from the clay from right there in the sanctuary ground, (Rickett's had a kiln on site). He then (somehow) melded these sculptures with the surrounding rocks etc. These guys have been around for about 30 years or more, so the moss and lichen that has grown over and around them have made them all blend in so wonderfully! Ah well, gotta go to bed now! Night everyone! Cameron

One wonders what the archiologists will think two thousand years from now? Thanks for showing us this.

Gee, I wish I'm in AU right now, and I'd make friends with Mr. Ricketts. Maybe he'd take me as apprentice. (One of my dreams is to become an accomplished sculptor.) These are really good, PunkClown, the subject and the photos. :-) (*

You're certainly not boring us, these are fascinating, more? : )

wow - the realism in these characters is fantastic! That first pic blew me away, it just looks like a painted face... Thanks Punk, nice insight! (",)

Cammeron, I knew there was a story there, but this goes well beyond anything I may have suspected. Fascinating sculptures, story, and pictures! Thanks a million! marshall

Marshall, my pleasure. Star, sorry to dissapoint you, but William Rickett's died a few years ago after reaching a very healthy and productive old age. I think he would have been a fascinating character to talk to. Some of the nurses I work with actually cared for him, and they confirm that thought! He was indeed an artist with a lot of passion.

Aw man... another good one gone... :-( Anyway, this is the kind of stuff I want to leave behind when I kick the can LOL :-)