Pamela Irving

Pamela Irving (born 1960) is a prominent Australian artist and educator specialising in bronze, ceramic and mosaic sculptures as well as prints and copper etchings. She has also worked for a period as a writer.

Education

Born in Victoria, Australia, Irving was formally educated at the Melbourne State College (1979 – 1982) where she completed a Bachelor of Education (Art/Craft) and at the University of Melbourne, Victorian College of the Arts (1984 – 1989) where she completed a Master of Arts degree by research.

Influences

Irving's early art was influenced by artists including Arthur Boyd, John Brack, Noel Connihan, Mirka Mora and Sidney Nolan and John Perceval. In recent years, Irving has been influenced ″by the honest and direct expressiveness of ‘outsider art’ (the art of self taught or ‘naive artists’) and the craft of ‘memoryware’″ Significantly, this interest grew following Irving's visit to Nek Chand's Rock Garden in Chandigarh, India.

Notable Work

The second bronze statue of Larry La Trobe, Melbourne City Square, created by Pamela Irving.

Irving's most famous work is the bronze sculpture of Larry La Trobe, commissioned in 1992 as a part of the Swanston Street redevelopment in Melbourne, and stolen by a thief or thieves unknown during 1995. The resulting media attention rallied significant public support for the recovery of the sculpture. Although never recovered, the statue was recast by the foundry owner, Peter Kolliner, with some minor changes by Irving and was replaced in September 1996. The Larry sculpture is located at the corner of Swanston Street and Collins Street, Melbourne.

The popularity of the Larry La Trobe statue with families and tourists makes it one of the most photogrpahed statues in Melbourne.

Professional Associations

Active in the development of mosaic art in Australia, Irving became Vice-President of the Mosaic Association of Australia and New Zealand in 2007.

Exhibitions

Between 1981 and 2003, Irving took part in 18 solo exhibitions, 11 joint exhibitions and more than 80 group exhibitions.

Collections

Irving's work is held in the following collections:

Museums and Galleries

• Museum Victoria
• University of Melbourne including Trinity College
• Deakin University
• Australian Catholic University
• Burnie College of TAFE, Tasmania
• Artbank
• Melbourne City Council
• City of Glen Eira
• Shepparton Art Gallery
• Bendigo Art Gallery
• Geelong Art Gallery
• City of Whitehorse
• Footscray City Art Collection
• City of Hume
• City of Wyndham
• Colac Otway Shire
• ANZ Bank

Corporate and Private Collections

• Art Horses Pty Ltd
• L’Oreal Australia
• Monash Medical Centre, Clayton
• Murray Goulburn Co-operative
• Northern Hospital
• Pacific Shopping Centres
• Polypacific
• Sushi King
• Yooralla Society
• Zart Art
• Private collections throughout Australia, the USA and Hong Kong including that of Germaine Greer, Tuscany

School Collections

• Abbotsleigh School for Girls, Sydney
• Camberwell Grammar School, Melbourne
• Corio North High School
• Grimwade House, Melbourne Grammar School
• Kew High School
• Lara Lake Primary School
• Lilydale West Primary School
• Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School
• Mentone Girls Grammar School, Melbourne
• Mentone Grammar School, Melbourne
• Merton Hall, Melbourne Girls Grammar School
• Methodist Ladies' College (MLC), Melbourne
• Scotch College, Melbourne
• Star of the Sea College, Gardenvale
• Tintern Girls' Grammar School, Melbourne
• Wesley College, Elsternwick

Awards and Grants

• 1981 Nominated Kamel Kiln Award
• 1985 Ceramic Prize, City of Box Hill
• 1985 Ceramic Prize, City of Footscray
• 1987 Ministry for the Arts and Ministry for Education Artist in Schools Project
• 1988 Australia Council Grant To Develop a Body of Ceramic Work.
• 1988 Ministry for Arts and Ministry for Education, Artist in Schools Project
• 1989 Tasmanian Arts Council Grant-Artist in Residency, Tasmania
• 1991 Pat Corrigan Artist Grant, N.A.V.A.
• 1994 Winner, Australia Day Ceramic Award Shepparton Arts Centre.
• 1995 City of Glen Eira Artist Award
• 1999 Artist and Designers in Schools Grant, resident artist at Kew High School
• 2005 Artist in School Grant, Ministry for the Arts and Education

See also

• Art of Australia
• List of Australian artists

References

• Hedger, Michael. 1995, Public sculpture in Australia / Michael Hedger, Craftsman House, G+B Arts International, Roseville East, N.S.W.

• Keneally, Susan, Pamela Irving: Happy as Larry - ceramics, mosaics, printmaking, CD-ROM, Susan Keneally and Pamela Irving, 2008

• McCulloch, Alan, & McCulloch, Susan. & McCulloch, Emily. 2006, The new McCulloch's encyclopedia of Australian art / Alan McCulloch, Susan McCulloch, Emily McCulloch Childs Aus Art Editions in association with The Miegunyah Press, Fitzroy, Vic.

• National Association for the Visual Arts (Australia). 1995, Who's who of Australian visual artists D.W. Thorpe in association with National Association for the Visual Arts, Port Melbourne, Vic.

External Links

• Pamela Irving
• Mosaic Association of Australia and New Zealand
• Faculty of Victorian College of Arts
• Artbank