Beyond the Ocean of Existence

On the corner of Swanston Street and Flinders Lane is a beautiful piece of art work. Titled Beyond the Ocean of Existence, this patinated bronze sculpture was created by Loretta Quinn in 1993. It comprises a single large ball surrounded by eight bronze coils and a series of smaller balls and lengths of column, both triangular and circular in cross-section, surmount these coils. At the sculpture's top is a stylised angel. The work is a mounted on a granite plinth of dressed and polished blocks.

About the artist
Loretta Quinn was born in Hobart and studied sculpture at the Tasmanian School of Art and the Victorian College of the Arts. She was commssioned by The City of Melbourne in 1992 to create Beyond the Ocean of Existence as part of the Swanston Walk redevelopment. The sculpture was unveiled the following year. The city also commissioned Quinn's Within Three Worlds, located in Princes Park

Beyond the Ocean of Existence demonstrates Quinn's reflective approach, and it is a work replete with religious references. There is a sense of 'folk religion' in much of her art, and whether the symbols derive from the mystery of a Latin mass or the animist universe, a Celtic myth or a Japanese garden, she says they are 'visual references to which others will relate'.
Further information about Loretta Quinn can be found at the Harrison Galleries.

In the background
The tall Gothic building in the background is the Manchester Unity building built in the 1932 and designed by Marcus Barlow which was once Melbourne's tallest building, the modern piece of architecture slightly to the left and in front is Wales Corner (Bank of NSW) 1973 by Wolfgang Sievers. And if you look very carefully through the trees, you can see the Painted Poles in City Square.


Today's Quote: It is not known precisely where angels dwell - whether in the air, the void, or the planets. It has not been God's pleasure that we should be informed of their abode ~Voltaire