Augusta Vinall Richardson Awarded 2026 Southern Way McClelland Commission McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery.

McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery is pleased to announce Augusta Vinall Richardson as the recipient of the 2026 Southern Way McClelland Commission, one of Australia’s most significant ongoing public sculpture programs.

Vinall Richardson’s major new work, Portrait (a moving walkway) is a large-scale sculpture to be realised at Peninsula Link, engaging thousands of commuters daily through its dynamic relationship to speed, movement and shifting perspectives.

A leading sculptor of her generation, Augusta Vinall Richardson is known for her powerful abstract metal works that balance engineered systems with moments of expressive instability. Working with steel and bronze, her practice explores structures of support, both physical and metaphorical, and the ways individual forms operate collectively within larger systems.

Developed specifically for the motorway environment, Portrait (a moving walkway) is conceived to be encountered with the viewer in motion. A series of irregular cube-like forms balance atop slender columns, their composition visually “concertinaing” as the viewer passes by in vehicles at speed. Set against the stable horizontality of road and bridge infrastructure, the work offers a fleeting yet striking interruption, foregrounding the physical forces of gravity and balance.

“The site dictates viewing that is brief, peripheral and defined by motion,” Vinall Richardson said. “I’m interested in how a tactile, emotive language can be translated into metal at scale; how material, structure and precarity can register in a momentary encounter. This work hovers between engineered stability and expressive imbalance, reflecting the physical forces that underpin everyday movement.”

Vinall Richardson will employ a refined, yet robust material palette in contrasting metals and finishes, allowing the sculpture to withstand the elements while maintaining a strong visual presence across varying light and weather conditions.

Lisa Byrne, Artistic + Executive Director, McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery, said the Commission continues McClelland’s commitment to ambitious contemporary sculpture in the public realm.

“Augusta Vinall Richardson’s work demonstrates exceptional sensitivity to site, material and audience,” Byrne said. “Portrait (a moving walkway) responds intelligently to the experience of the freeway while remaining grounded in sculptural rigor and material integrity. It is a compelling addition to the Southern Way McClelland Commission and speaks to the program’s vision of bringing outstanding contemporary sculpture into daily public life.”

In a shift from past selection processes, the program has evolved to become an invitation only opportunity to four sculptors selected by the governing panel. The panel, Dr Zara Stanhope, Director of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Ben Fasham, Director JK Fasham, Sculptures on the move and Lisa Byrne, McClelland noted the work’s exceptional suitability for a high-speed roadside setting, being purposefully designed for encounters that, in the artist's words, are “brief, peripheral and defined by motion.” The sculpture features stacked, cube-like metal forms supported by slender steel columns, creating a dynamic visual effect for motorists as the structure appears to contract and shift in response to changes in speed and observation.

Standing 10 metres tall, this sculpture extends Richardson’s ongoing investigation of “systems of support, understood both structurally and metaphorically” The panel commended the synthesis between precisely engineered steel sections and handcrafted sheet-metal cubes, generating an engaging contrast between stability and expressive fragility. The material composition showcases Vinall Richardson’s use of contrasting colour, texture, and surface pattern. It situates the work within both a naturalistic landscape context and a defined urban setting on the Peninsula Link.

Against the backdrop of road and bridge horizon lines, the sculpture’s verticality serves as a notable interruption, encouraging engagement with concepts of balance, gravity, and the physical forces that shape spatial movement. The panel is pleased to award the commission to Augusta Vinall Richardson for this ambitious and distinctive vision at Skye Road, affirming its commitment to facilitating major new works that foster artistic growth and enable the creation of significant, large-scale sculptures.

About the Southern Way McClelland Commission

The Southern Way McClelland Commission is an ongoing program of major new public sculptures initiated in partnership with Southern Way, whose generous funding supports the creation of large-scale works by leading Australian artists.

The program alternates every two years between sites at Skye Road and Cranbourne Road along the Peninsula Link freeway, resulting in a total of 14 commissioned sculptures over the 25-year life of the program through to 2037.

Each commissioned artwork remains on public display for four years before being relocated to McClelland Sculpture Park + Gallery at Langwarrin, where it becomes part of McClelland’s permanent outdoor collection—ensuring a lasting legacy for both artists and audiences.