Bird Totem was commissioned in 1988 by the AMP Society, through the Irving Sculpture Gallery in Glebe. Celia Winter-Irving was the gallery director at the time and she secured the commission.
John Bilmon from Peddle Thorp and Walker, a major Sydney architectural firm was the project manager on behalf of the AMP Society. The sculpture was to be made in bronze and was cast in Melbourne by Artworks In Bronze in St Kilda. The key person involved at Artworks in Bronze was Peter Degaris. The sculpture was installed on the International Plaza on the corner of George and Jamison Streets in Sydney and in front of the then World Trade Centre and the National Bank head quarters.
The "brief" requirements, re-concept, content, size and material were left to the artist. On this occasion and after much consultation I proposed two pieces of which one was chosen by the committee. The five tonne silicon bronze sculpture was large, six meters high, and six meters across the top and 1.6 meters wide. It was, at the time, the largest single form bronze sculpture in NSW and possibly Australia. Most of the problems with the construction and the casting in bronze of this piece were associated with the fact that a project of this size was new and had not been undertaken on this scale in Australia.
Bird Totem was successfully installed at the end of 1988, Australia's bicentenary year.
Bird Totem
1988
Bronze
Height 600 cm
Commissioned by the AMP Society for the World Trade Centre and National Bank Building Plaza, corner George Street and Jamieson Street, Sydney, Australia
