These plaster wall sculptures have been created using silicon cast molds from the shipwreck SS Minmi, an old screw steamer, which set voyage from Melbourne in 1937 en route to Newcastle. On May 13, 1937 the ship crashed ashore in Kamay and since that day parts of the wreckage remain scattered around the Kamay coastline – corroding, oxidising and decaying the steel back into the elements it once was before it was forged into such an object. With minimal intervention William Versace paid particular interest in the large part of the wreck, still above water, that has been decaying back into the ocean over time.

Framed in rich lustrous blackwood these unique achromic works draw attention to the veins, crinkles, cracks and lines which are the result of almost 90 years of corrosion. What you see is a moment frozen in time – when the salt and the water and the bacteria became enmeshed with steel and iron and decay and created what it created.

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands – Kamay, more specifically, Bunnabi, the north headland of Botany Bay, on Gadigal land. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging and we celebrate the diversity of Aboriginal peoples and their ongoing cultures and connections to the lands and waters of NSW.

Signed on back