Deborah Hart on Lindy Lee’s Ouroboros

Deborah Hart, Head Curator, Australian Art, introduces Lindy Lee’s newly unveiled immersive public sculpture, Ouroboros.

The sculpture is based on the ancient image of a snake eating its own tail; an image seen across cultures and millennia, the symbol of eternal return, of cycles of birth, death and renewal. Located at the entrance of the National Gallery, visitors are able enter the ‘mouth’ of the sculpture and walk into the curved space to experience darkness that is illuminated by light beams emanating from the hundreds of perforations on its surface.

With a practice spanning more than four decades, Meanjin/Brisbane-born artist, Lindy Lee uses her work to explore her Chinese ancestry through Taoism and Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism — philosophies that see humanity and nature as inextricably linked.

Friday Art Talks are a free weekly program. Hear from artists, curators and experts on the works in our collection and exhibition program. This Art Talk is part of a series focused on sculpture.