Terrance Plowright


Terrance Kippax Plowright is an Australian sculptor, based in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. His works include contemporary and figurative sculptures. He has designed and created large public sculptural water features and murals, substantial public cenotaphs, commemorative cast bronze sculptures, and a large body of religious and spiritual work that includes stained glass windows, altars, lecterns, baptismal fonts and mosaics.

Biography and early career

Plowright was born in Paddington, New South Wales. In 1966, he worked as a copy boy for The Australian Women's Weekly, then trained and worked as a film editor for the ABC. He studied music privately for a short time at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for a number of bands. He developed a keen interest in science, philosophy and music. In 1975, he founded the Awareness Centre in Sydney, and also spent time in the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland. He conducted workshops around human potential and spiritual awareness. His works, in the past 30 years, have endeavoured to explore these themes and to reveal the connection between all living things.
In 1981, Plowright pursued his emerging interest in fine art and spent nine months in New Zealand, where he furthered a growing interest in stained glass creation. In 1983, he established his first studio at Wahroonga in New South Wales.
In 1985, he created a large stained glass window for a private client. In the same year, he was selected as one of two Australian artists to represent Australian glass artists at the Sydney Craft Expo. His first major piece, also in 1985, a commissioned stained glass window, was a memorial to the Royal New South Wales Regiment for the Garrison Church, in The Rocks, Sydney. In 1988, Plowright created one of the country's then-largest stained glass windows, installed in Galston Uniting Church. Another significant work was an 11 x 3m stained glass window, commissioned by St Bernadette's in Castle Hill, New South Wales. His large stained glass piece The Gathering of the Most Sacred was created for an exhibition for the World Council of Churches in 1990. This piece and Living Waters were also exhibited at the Penrith Regional Gallery and the Lewers Bequest Glass Show in 1991.
In 1990, he completed a granite, aluminium and beveled glass sculpture, Purity of Spirit, for Neeta City in Fairfield, New South Wales. He was invited by the World Council of Churches to be the sculptor and artist-in-residence at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory in 1991. His works, created during the two-week conference, were televised to over 120 countries. Also in 1991, Plowright was commissioned by the Penrith Returned and Services League to design and create a bronze sculpture, a tribute to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli.
His book, Stained Glass:Inspirations and Designs, was written in 1993, and launched by Hazel Hawke.

Works

  • 2020: Plowright is currently working on a life-size Sam Male Project with cast bronze figure and contemporary Corten Steel sculpture to be installed in Broome, Western Australia.
  • 2019/2020: Plowright has completed a 3m high, cast bronze sculpture of Tayla Harris - "Not just a kick" - to be installed at Docklands Stadium, Docklands, Melbourne
  • 2019: He created a 2.2m high, cast bronze and glass sculpture with sequenced lighting - Eternal Flame - for Bathurst City Council.
  • 2013/2014: He has completed a 15m/50foot high contemporary sculpture, a national project celebrating 60,000 years of nationhood. This is to be installed in the River Torrens, near the Adelaide Oval.

Achievements

Other works

Plowright has created many figurative and contemporary works, and water features, from both public and private commissions, including:Elvis Presley in 2018: a larger-than-life-size, cast bronze sculpture for Parkes City Council.Basil Sellers in 2018: a larger-than-life-size, cast bronze bust, private collection.George Jones WW2 and Frank McNamara VC recipient, WW1 in 2016: larger than life-size busts, Shepparton Council in conjunction with Australian War Memorial.St. Thomas Aquinas in 2016: 80m stained glass, Australian Catholic University, St Thomas Aquinas Chapel, Ballarat campus.Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth in 2015: larger-than-life-size cast bronze busts. Gregory Blaxland installed in Blaxland, William Lawson installed in Lawson and William Wentworth installed in Wentworth Falls, all in the Blue Mountains, NSW.Robert Mactier, World War I Victoria Cross recipient: in 2013/2014: a 2m high bronze portrait commissioned by the City of Greater Shepparton and the Tatura RSL, Victoria, unveiled on 31 October 2014.Lachlan Macquarie in 2013: 3m high cast bronze sculpture for the Government of New South Wales, Hyde Park, Sydney.Avian Gesture 3 in 2012: A stainless steel contemporary work exhibited at Sculpture at Scenic World.Vietnamese Boat People Memorial in 2011: Bronze sculpture, including four 3/4 life-size figures and boat. Memorial for 500,000 Vietnamese who perished at sea in voyages from Vietnam. Commissioned by the Bankstown City Council. Life Teeming-Life Teaming in 2011: A 4m stainless steel sculpture commissioned by the Waverley Council for Bondi Junction,.Eternal Flame in 2012: 1.5m stainless steel work incorporating 49 LED lights controlled for sequenced lighting. Penrith Memory Park War Memorial, Penrith, New South Wales.Steve Waugh in 2012: 1¼ life size, cast bronze sculpture at Sydney Cricket Ground. Commissioned as part of the Basil Sellers Sports Sculpture Project.Tribute to Beethoven's Sixth in 2011: A contemporary work of cast 316 stainless steel exhibited at Darling Park Sculptors Society Exhibition.Reg Gasnier and Stan McCabe in 2010: 1¼ life size, cast bronze sculptures at Sydney Football Stadium and Sydney Cricket Ground respectively. Commissioned as part of the Basil Sellers Sports Sculpture Project.Life from a Suitcase in 2010: Nine bronze larger than life figures of three generations of the Signorelli family at Pyrmont Bay ferry wharf, Sydney, celebrating early immigration to Australia.Awakening Flower of Peace in 2010: A 5m high, stainless steel work in Gough Whitlam Park, Sydney. Commissioned by the City of Canterbury. Trevor Allen in 2009: A larger than life size cast bronze sculpture in the Sydney Football Stadium, Commissioned as part of the Basil Sellers Sports Sculpture Project.Dance of Intimacy in 2009: A 2.4m high stainless steel work exhibited at the 2009 Darling Park Sculptors Exhibition, page 12.Penrith Cenotaph in 2009: 8m long x 3m high, cast bronze, sandstone, stainless steel work with LED lighting in Memory Park, Penrith, New South Wales. Sir Henry Parkes in 2008: A larger than life bronze commissioned by the Parkes Shire Council, New South Wales.Inseparable in 2009: A contemporary granite work. Received Highly Commended Award at the 2009 Darling Park Sculptors Society Exhibition.

Published works

Stained Glass:Inspirations and Designs Kenthurst, NSW: Kangaroo Press. 1993, reprinted 1995.