'Art is like a rudder on a boat', says sculptor Barbara Sikora, 'that prevents us from
drifting hopelessly into stagnation and regression'. Barbara became a sculptor of
international repute when her works were selected from 3000 entries and bought by
Japan's Osaka Government for its contemporary Art Centre Collection. Her work has
constant themes of 'alone-ness', the haunting spectre of war, the human instinct for
creation and destruction, and the problems of permanence and transience.
(Weekend Review)
Dear. Ms Sikora.....I am writing on behalf of the Redland residents and Council to
thank you most sincerely for your contribution .... Your professional expertise in
working with local residents and harnessing their ideas and energy to create the
wonderful works of art now installed in the precincts of Redland is most
appreciated.....We are very impressed with the quality of the suspended sculpture you
produced from a community brief ......
(Extracts from a letter to Barbara Sikora from Mayor of Redland Cr
E.Santagiuliana)
Barbara Sikora's Bird/Cloud/Thought simultaneously defines space and form without
restricting the flow of either. It also reveals intriguing musical qualities when struck -
an incidental but not irrelevant consideration.
(Richards, The Courier-Mail.)
Intensely concerned with the survival of the species, she is particularly fascinated
with evolution : evolution, however, not of the physical body, but of the human traits
which set the species apart from all other creatures. In particular, the driving need to
worship, and the evolution of the manipulation of hand held tools into an almost god-
like supremacy of technology, absorb and fascinate her.
The condition of humankind, the variability, the contradictions, the celebrations and
the sorrows are all part of Barbara Sikora's work. Of her work in general she says: 'I
want to preserve a state of ambivalence and a sense of mystery, which serve to
sharpen our perception'.
(B. Vaughan, Australia Arts Council, Sydney)
As a sculptor with the flair for the bold and original she has raised many an art purist's
eyebrow. Her work is a touch avant-garde, Barbara's sculptures defy easy description-
some are stark, others fragile.
(L. Van Den Nieuwenhof, Daily Telegraph)
Among many thing exploration of change interests her, as do relationships to time.
She doesn't see any particular characteristics as 'inherently male' or 'inherently
female', nor does she feel a polarity of this kind in her creative work.
(from M.A.T.I.A. Perspectives on Visual Arts, Australia Art Council)
Barbara Sikora's 'War Spectre' - in steel - (is also entitled 'Not Light But Darkness
Visible') pulsates with energy, alive with movement, it reflects both darker side of
humanity and the indomitable spirit which keeps repeating, keeps creating, keeps
remaking both war and peace. It is a splendid piece without beginning or end. It
moves like the cycles of life towards infinity; like thought itself, it escapes, forever,
precise definition.
(Irving Sculpture Gallery.)
Recent Exhibitions/Installations
Art Gallery
Address
Barbara Basienka Sikora
4 Woodvale Drive
Mudgeeraba, QLD 4213 - Australia
tel. ++61-7-55-302-461
fax ++61-7-55-307-461
