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“Most of my figures are asexual; it’s more about humanhood than gender. And a connection with the animal world and what we share.” Anne Ross Anne Ross Whichway Anne Ross WhichwaySummertime 2017 patinated cast bronze Bayside City Council Art and Heritage Collection. Commissioned 2017 13 Introduction Joanna Bosse 15 Unleashed Andrew Stephens 47 Interview Anne Ross 58 Artist’s CV 62 List of works The other side of midnight series 2005–07 patinated and painted cast bronzeThe other side of midnight series 2005–07 patinated and painted cast bronzeSwingtime (detail) 2004 patinated cast bronzeIntroduction For over four decades, Anne Ross has explored pathos and humour within the themes of companionship, belonging and self-containment through the medium of bronze. This first ever survey of representational sculpture dating from the mid-1990s to the present illustrates Ross’s preoccupation with the human and animal form and reveals the consistency of her interest in key iconography such as dogs, birds, trees, frames and arrows. Ross’s fascination with what she calls ‘humanhood’ and the relational dynamics between people, animals and nature is a key theme that runs throughout her practice. Using devices such as twinship, masking, anthropomorphism and interspecies symbolism to reflect on the human condition, she imbues the narrative potential of her sculptures with a comical sensibility and a deep sense of emotion. Based in the municipality of Bayside, Ross is best known for her public art commissions throughout Australia, including the much-loved sculpture Summertime (2017) depicting a dog wearing sunglasses gazing across the Bay at Brighton’s dog beach. A major work, Taken not given (2018), commissioned by the Victorian Government and located at the corner of Treasury Place and Lansdowne Street, East Melbourne, recognises the state apology for past adoption practices. This exhibition demonstrates Ross’s achievements working in patinated cast bronze sculpture, a challenging and technically demanding medium. Her persistence and expertise gained over decades of working hands-on at every stage of production is evidenced in the finesse and compositional complexity of her work. Ross’s extraordinary ability to translate poetic, dreamlike ideas and imagery into this ancient, weighty medium with a deft lightness of touch sets her apart as a true innovator. This seeming incongruity is just one of many that lies at the heart of her intriguing works. Joanna Bosse , Curator, Bayside Gallery 13 The sentinels 2018 patinated cast bronzeUnleashed Andrew Stephens You and me and me and you 1999–2000 patinated cast bronze 15 “I am fascinated by that time between being awake and being asleep, a dream state, an otherworldliness. I gravitate towards exploring the double-sidedness of things.” Anne RossNext >