South Coast sculptors Suzie Bleach and Andrew Townsend are bringing a message of optimism to Floriade this year, with a life-size horse that buckles but doesn't collapse under the weight of scrap metal on its back.
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The artwork was installed at Commonwealth Park this week, and is among 16 artworks to be shown at Floriade this year.
Townsend, the co-creator of the sculpture, "A Burden", said the work was designed to depict struggle and to convey the message of stoicism and resilience.
"We humans carry various burdens, we all at various times in our life struggle with something that's difficult to bear. We wanted to make a work that was optimistic, although this horse is struggling, its back legs are collapsing to make headway with that difficult load," he says.
"Being determined to kind of push through, maybe take on the burden willingly and be successful with it."
Made in January 2016, A Burden was created for Sculpture by the Sea at Cottesloe beach, where it won the people's choice award, and it has now been displayed in four shows across Australia.
By using flatbar metal as the frame, Bleach says they moulded the metal units separately which allowed them to study the musculature of the horse and work out where tension in the body of the horse should be.
"It was challenging but in a thrilling way, because we were taught panel beating, so we just employed all those panel beating skills", she said.
A pile of rusted scrap metal is stacked on the horse's back, with some of the pieces salvaged from the artists' old workshop in Braidwood, which burnt down in August 2013.
Bleach says while the theme of the piece is human condition, not giving in but keeping on trying, she is more interested in what it means to the viewer.
"I would never want to say this work means…what does it means to you, what feelings do you get from it," she says.
"We had a lot of fun making it. The fact that it speaks to everybody's situation, that everybody has something to relate to."
