Terrance Plowright

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.[2] 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.[1] 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.[3] He conducted workshops around human potential and spiritual awareness.[1] His works, in the past 30 years, have endeavoured to explore these themes and to reveal the connection between all living things.[1]

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.[4][5]

In 1985, he created a large stained glass window for a private client.[6] In the same year, he was selected as one of two Australian artists to represent Australian glass artists at the Sydney Craft Expo.[3][5] 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.[3][7][8] In 1988, Plowright created one of the country's then-largest stained glass windows, installed in Galston Uniting Church.[9] Another significant work was an 11 x 3m stained glass window, commissioned by St Bernadette's in Castle Hill, New South Wales.[10][11] His large stained glass piece The Gathering of the Most Sacred was created for an exhibition for the World Council of Churches in 1990.[3] This piece and Living Waters were also exhibited at the Penrith Regional Gallery and the Lewers Bequest Glass Show in 1991.[12][13]

In 1990, he completed a granite, aluminium and beveled glass sculpture, Purity of Spirit, for Neeta City in Fairfield, New South Wales (now in a private collection).[14] 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.[8][15] His works, created during the two-week conference, were televised to over 120 countries.[16][3][5] 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.[2][17][18][19]

His book, Stained Glass:Inspirations and Designs,[20][3][21] was written in 1993, and launched by Hazel Hawke.[5]

• 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, WA.
• 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 [22]
• 2019: He created a 2.2m high, cast bronze and glass sculpture with sequenced lighting - Eternal Flame - for Bathurst City Council.[23]
• 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.[24]

• 2019: Awarded Order of Australia medal (OAM) for his services to the visual arts.[25]
• 2015: Invited to exhibit at the X Florence Biennale[26]
• 2015: Awarded 4th place for sculpture in 2015 Florence Biennale [27]
• 2015: Invited to exhibit at the New York art gallery, Artifact[28]
• 2014: He was a finalist in the McClelland Sculpture Survey and Award 2014 at the McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery in Melbourne.[29]
• 2013: Invited to exhibit at the IX Florence Biennale,[30][28] and received a Medici Medal and Special Mention for artistic and sculptural contribution to sculpture at the Biennale[31]
• 2012: Tubular Resonance. Plowright was a finalist in the McClelland Sculpture Prize in Melbourne for his 5m stainless steel interactive sound sculpture.[30]
• 2012/13: Winner of the City of Frankston People's Choice Award at the McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery,[28][32][33] for Tubular Resonance',[34] which was purchased by McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery, Melbourne

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.[35]
• Basil Sellers in 2018: a larger-than-life-size, cast bronze bust, private collection.
• George Jones (Air Marshall Sir George Jones) WW2 and Frank McNamara (Air Vice-Marshall Frank McNamara) VC recipient, WW1 in 2016: larger than life-size busts, Shepparton Council in conjunction with Australian War Memorial.[36]
• St. Thomas Aquinas in 2016: 80m stained glass, Australian Catholic University, St Thomas Aquinas Chapel, Ballarat campus.[37][38]
• 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.[39][40][41]
• 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.[30]
• Lachlan Macquarie in 2013: 3m high cast bronze sculpture for the Government of New South Wales, Hyde Park, Sydney.[42][43]
• Avian Gesture 3 in 2012: A stainless steel contemporary work exhibited at Sculpture at Scenic World.[44]
• 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.[28][45]
• Life Teeming-Life Teaming in 2011: A 4m stainless steel sculpture commissioned by the Waverley Council for Bondi Junction,.[46][47][48]
• Eternal Flame in 2012: 1.5m stainless steel work incorporating 49 LED lights controlled for sequenced lighting. Penrith Memory Park War Memorial,[49] Penrith, New South Wales.
• Steve Waugh in 2012: 1¼ life size, cast bronze sculpture at Sydney Cricket Ground.[50] Commissioned as part of the Basil Sellers Sports Sculpture Project.[51]
• Tribute to Beethoven's Sixth in 2011: A contemporary work of cast 316 stainless steel exhibited at Darling Park Sculptors Society Exhibition.[52]
• Reg Gasnier and Stan McCabe in 2010: 1¼ life size, cast bronze sculptures at Sydney Football Stadium and Sydney Cricket Ground respectively.[53][54][55][56] 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.[57][58]
• Awakening Flower of Peace in 2010: A 5m high, stainless steel work in Gough Whitlam Park, Sydney. Commissioned by the City of Canterbury.[59]
• Trevor Allen in 2009: A larger than life size cast bronze sculpture in the Sydney Football Stadium,[46][60][61] 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,[62] 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.[63]
• Sir Henry Parkes in 2008: A larger than life bronze commissioned by the Parkes Shire Council, New South Wales.[64]
• Inseparable in 2009: A contemporary granite work. Received Highly Commended Award at the 2009 Darling Park Sculptors Society Exhibition.[65]
• Richie Benaud in 2008: A larger than life size cast bronze sculpture in the Sydney Cricket Ground.[66] Commissioned as part of the Basil Sellers Sports Sculpture Project.
• Life-saver in 1908: A cast bronze, 3m high sculpture at North Wollongong Beach, commemorating 100 years of life-saving in Wollongong.[67]
• Road builders/convict memorial in 2006: Five larger than life bronze figures, each weighing approximately 2.8 tonnes at Echo Point, Katoomba in the Blue Mountains.[68][69]
• Emergence in 2006. A 6m high solid granite and stainless steel sculptural water feature/fountain with 3 sets of stainless steel contemporary figures surrounding the main feature. Newcastle Permanent Building, King St, Newcastle, New South Wales.[28]
• Mirrored Stillness, Dancing Streams in 2005: A 50m water feature in Deutsche Bank Place, Phillip Street, Sydney.[28][70]
• The Surfers in 2004: Three figures in cast bronze, using the Lost-wax casting tradition, Twin Waters, Maroochydore North Shore, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, a Delfin Lend Lease Commission.[71][72]
• Wings of Spirit in 2004: A contemporary stainless steel sculpture at Twin Waters, Maroochydore, Queensland.[28][73]
• Three Sisters Dreamtime in 2004: Seven cast bronze Aboriginal figures, all around 2m high. Katoomba Scenic World, Blue Mountains, New South Wales.[74]
• Cobar Miner in 2002: A larger than life bronze sculpture in Cobar, New South Wales; a tribute to 130 miners killed whilst working in the mines.[75]
• Sports Figures in 2001: A series of white sports figures for the Champions sports area in Mount Pritchard, Liverpool, New South Wales.[76]
• Meriton Fountain in 2001: A 5m, cast resin, fibre-glass water feature on the Pacific Highway, Chatswood, New South Wales.[77][78]
• Exploration of Conscious Space (Harmonic Celebration) in 2010: A 2.3m (with plinth) stainless steel contemporary work exhibited at the Sculptors Society Darling Park exhibition in 2010.[79]
• Aqua-helix in 2001: 11m high stainless steel sculpture at Central railway station, Henry Deane Plaza, Sydney.[28]
• Sydney Olympics sculpture auction piece for the 2000 Summer Olympics: This raised $1.72 million for Australian athletics.[72]
• Pit Pony and Welsh Miner in 2001: Life size cast bronze at Katoomba Scenic World, Blue Mountains, New South Wales.[74]
• Dancing Brolgas in 1998: Featuring twelve 1.6m high cast 316 stainless steel brolgas at Cockle Bay (Sydney), Darling Harbour, was Plowright's first water feature.[28][71]
• A relief mural at Westfield Parramatta in 1995.[80][81][82]
• Hand-painted ceramic figurines of Mary MacKillop for Pope John Paul II's visit to Australia in 1995.[83]
• A 3m cast bronze coat of arms for the Commonwealth Bank in Brisbane in 1995.[82]
• A cast bronze contemporary sculpture for the Qantas air terminal in Adelaide in 1987 [82]

• Stained Glass:Inspirations and Designs Kenthurst, NSW: Kangaroo Press. 1993, reprinted 1995. ISBN 0864174950