Lisa Roet

White Ape 2005 / Bronze Ape 2007

“We first saw Lisa’s 2005 White Ape at the McClelland Sculpture Prize, which she won. Nonda commissioned Lisa to re-cast the work in bronze at the Meridian Foundry in Fitzroy in 2007. The work has sat in front of our house at the base of Mount Monument for 15 years. Lisa is interested in the relationship between primates and humans and has spent a lot of time studying them in zoos and the wild including Borneo and exhibiting works based on her observations. Understanding how humans live, destroying habitats and the impact it is having on all primates.

Her giant project to educate takes on many forms including sculpture, drawings, video work and jewellery, each medium showcasing her attention to detail in the texture of skin, the hair and the intricate detail of their features, how closely linked they are to humans but how vulnerable their habitats and futures really are.

We love the Gorillaz (Demon Days) song “Fire coming out of the Monkey’s Head”, and felt that a primates head was the perfect anchor for the base of a mountain, a space for the happy folk, defending the peace and quiet of such a special place in the Macedon Ranges.”

– Jane Collins

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