By Thomas McCoy
Local artist Lisa Baier with her ceramic sculpture at Cooma Ex-Services Club.
Photos: Thomas McCoy.
With ANZAC Day just weeks away, local artist Lisa Baier has created a thought-provoking ceramic sculpture that invites people to reflect on the role of women left behind during times of war.
Entitled “Domestic Front: Lest We Forget”, the sculpture is on display at the entrance of the Cooma Ex-Services Club, and is the result of two years of reflection and research by Lisa on the meaning of ANZAC Day.
“As I read more and thought more, I started to reflect on how undervalued women seem to have been because they had to cope and ‘soldier on’ at home,” she said.
The sculpture features the head and shoulders of a female officer, who is adorned with so much regalia that she looks like “the highest ranking officer on the planet”, but up close her adornments are shown to be nothing more than domestic objects.
“Domestic Front: Lest We Forget” at entrance of Cooma Ex-Services Club.
They include pegs, a teacup, and a curtain cord. A knife, fork, spoon, thimble, and whisk hang from her shoulders while her epaulets are made of cheese graters and her helmet is a colander.
The colour of the sculpture is military khaki, and it has been finished with a copper-rust glaze to make it look old.
“If you look closely you’ll also notice that there are lots of scar marks all over her skin, which represent the unseen pain she had to endure,” Lisa said.
Next to the sculpture is a coffin adorned with red poppies, dedicated to all the soldiers who went to war and lost their lives.
“The poppies aren’t the same as those sold on Remembrance Day. These were given to me by the Cooma RSL Club and are the actual ones put on the coffins of service men and women who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice.”
And how does Lisa feel at the end of the long journey that has given birth to this piece of art?
“My husband Gunther and I have been here for six years and we love the town and its people so it’s been wonderful to contribute this sculpture to the Cooma community; thanks to the support of the Cooma Ex-Services Club and Secretary Manager Kade Morrell it’ll be on display until the end of the month.”
Lisa welcomes feedback on the sculpture at: monaropottery@hotmail.com.
Thomas McCoy: words and images 