By Dongyun Kwon
Yering Station is hosting an exhibition to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Yarra Valley sculptor’s death.
INTERACTION, an exhibition of artworks created by Ernst Fries, marked its launch at the Yering Station Cellar Door on Sunday 16 March.
The title of the exhibition was named after his two sculptures with the same name to invite viewer interaction and interpretation on Fries’ artworks.
The sculptor’s daughter, Reggie Clark, said her father was a local in the Yarra Valley for 35 years and passed away in 2020.
“He was a sculptor all my life. He worked mainly in stainless steel, and he often incorporated other materials like glass or granite with it,” she said.
There are three sculptures, with which viewers can interact physically through the light sensors, in the cellar door.
“When you go past the sensors, the lights turn on,” Clark said.
One of the physically interactive artworks is called Welcoming Home.
“It welcomes you home. The front door is slightly open, and the light is on when you come near it,” the daughter said.
Although Fries was a sculptor, he did some paintings in 1977, which are on display at the exhibition as well.
“I don’t know what inspired him (to do paintings at the time), it might have been other artists,” Clark said.
“They are the only (paintings) he did.”
Another three sculptures are being exhibited outside of the cellar door; Observing, Winter On The Bay, and Epicormic Growth.
Clark is passionate about contributing to local arts as an administrator but not as an artist.
She ran Art at Linden Gate as a director until she retired in 2020 and has been involved in Yarra Valley Arts for many years to support local artists.
Clark said her passion for arts was inspired by her father but she didn’t get a chance to see his working process first-hand.
“Painter parents would be doing their work with (their children) or around them,” she said.
“My father (who was a sculptor) had a studio and we were not allowed in there. He was working with dangerous materials, welding, acid, and metal, which are not good for little children.
“That is one reason why most of the family aren’t artists or aren’t creative because the art was done over there and we saw the finished piece.”
INTERACTION runs from 16 March to 27 April.
Art lovers are welcome to see all of Fries’ available works online as well, ernstfriessculpture.com
Yering Station Art Gallery curator Dr Ewen Jarvis said the exhibition is about the interaction of humans and the landscape which encapsulates and pays tribute to Ernst’s life.
“Many of the sculptures that are indoors have an architectural feel. They represent living spaces, but they’re very much living spaces that are in contact with nature. And this was very close to the heart of what Ernst did,” he said.
“A lot of his work was to bring the built environment into an interconnection with nature, and this is also what he did with his home and studio, which he built in Yarra Glen.
“The outdoor sculptures are a little bit different, but they definitely have paid their respects to nature in different ways.
“There is a broad range of works from different periods of his creative output. This is, in a way, helping to tell the story of Ernst Fries and his creative work over time. So it’s not a specific theme. It’s a more general theme with his creative life.”
