OFF THE WALL

STRIKING A BALANCE

ARTIST FINN COSSAR likes to think big. But it’s not just his ideas that are large – his industrial-style, gravitydefying sculptures, crafted from stone, rock and metal, are upscale in both size and impact.

Two of his works – Megalo (which means ‘big’ in Greek) and Crucial Weight – gained critical acclaim in the Sunshine Coast’s prestigious Sculpture on the Edge art exhibition last year, attracting Highly Commended awards. This recognition has validated Finn’s pursuit of the art form he has a passion for.

“I’ve always wanted to do sculptures on a large scale, ever since I was 16,” says Finn. “I’ve always wanted to do huge sculptures. I want people to look at my work and think ‘how did he do this? How did he physically do it?’ I want it to astonish.”

At just 22 Finn seems well on his way to achieving that goal. He is currently working on two sculptures for this year’s Sculpture on the Edge, and a collaborative piece for the Sunshine Coast Council, planned to be a permanent outdoor sculpture at Nambour.

Finn’s works are based on the tensegrity principle – tensional integrity, or fl oating compression – a structural principle of isolated components in a state of continuous tension. In Finn’s words, the elements of the sculpture are “pulling on each other and pushing on each other, and it makes it look like they’re fl oating. Without the tension in the sculpture, the whole thing would fall apart”.

Starting with a single idea, Finn’s sculptures evolve into their fi nal forms after a research and development period, while he sources materials and experiments with different combinations and techniques.

One of his works that sparked the creation of the larger-scale sculptures was a fi re pit he made for his mother, based on the tensegrity principle.

“As I was building it, I thought, I could just scale this up, because I’ve always wanted to do big stuff,” says Finn. “I sourced the materials for about a month, and then I bought myself a welder, then just taught myself how to weld and started to make the big sculptures.

“Ever since I got that recognition from Sculpture on the Edge, I thought this is something that I really want to jump into wholeheartedly.”

His favoured mediums are rock, “really thick metal” and some copper, which give the works an industrial look and feel.

“I don’t like working with a fl imsy material,” he says. “I only work with materials that will last upwards of 100 years.

“A lot of the materials that I source are recycled; they’re off old farms, or they’re bits that I’ve purchased from people – old wagon wheels and that sort of stuff. Then I’ve got a friend who allows me to go to his place and get rocks from his creek.”

Describing his style as industrially inspired with an environmental factor behind it, Finn says it’s all about striking a balance between the natural world and the industrialised world. Mixing the elements of machinery and nature, Finn’s works are balance-focused, underpinned by the tensegrity structure, which requires all of the sculpture’s components to be in perfect balance with each other to work. The use of recycled and found materials also emphasises this theme.

“I always make the meanings of [my sculptures] about balance within the eco-system,” he says. “I’ve always thought my one goal of the work is to inspire people. If I can inspire them to think environmentally about balance within the earth and that kind of stuff, I’m doing something good.”

“I want people to look at my work and think ‘how did he do this? How did he physically do it?’ I want it to astonish. ”

Always having been drawn to art but not thinking it would be practical as a career, Finn studied Screen and Media after school before landing his current job as a camera-operator fi lming live events, an occupation he describes as “awesome” and one that allows him to practise his art as well.

He credits his creative family for supporting his work as an artist, as well as acknowledging his high school art teacher at St John’s College Nambour, Olive Thompson, for recognising that his work was sometimes outside the artistic box.

“She was just awesome,” says Finn. “She bent the curriculum so it applied, so I could create whatever I wanted in the art classes and I wouldn’t get marked down for doing my own crazy cool stuff.”

Undoubtedly, Ms Thompson would be very proud of her former student, who is not only a young artist to watch, but is also one who is planning to make a lasting mark as a sculptor. Finn says while his larger-scale works are always in the making, he has also been creating smaller versions of his work that will support the same theme of balance.

“It’s the same medium – stone and rock and balancing and all that sort of stuff – but it’s almost like a Willy Wonka of different crazy things but all tying in together,” he says.

This growing collection of works is perfectly suited to what he hopes will be the next phase of his career and a long-held dream as an artist – a solo exhibition.

“The goal I’ve set for within the next couple of years is to have my own exhibition,” he says. “That is a life goal; a bucket list item. I’ve got lots of sculptures underway and I’d love to have an exhibition. I just think people coming to see my work on a night would be crazy.

“The main reason I love to create sculptures is that out of all the professions or all the people in the world that are usually remembered, or whose work is remembered, it is more the physical kind that will last, and what the message was behind those physical works. I think that’s why I do it mostly – I want my name to be remembered as someone who inspired other generations to do better and to be creative.

“I think that’s why I work with such hardy materials – I want my sculptures to live way longer than I do. If that could happen, that would be cool.”

See Finn’s work at Sculpture on the Edge, the Sunshine Coast’s premier outdoor sculpture event that showcases the work of dozens of sculptors in 18 beautiful acres of landscaped gardens at Maleny’s Spicers Tamarind Retreat. The exhibition opens on October 22 and runs until November 7, from 9am to 4pm daily. A twilight viewing awards event will be held on Friday, October 22 to open the event. sculptureontheedge.com.au