Virginia King, Cicada

The delicate Cicadas are Virginia King’s exploration and celebration of the natural world. By magnifying and abstracting the scale and complexity of natural life forms, the artist draws attention not only to their beauty and fragility but also the vulnerability of the Earth’s eco-systems. One has wings open and the other has its wings closed. 

King's sculpture celebrates life in the South Pacific and is informed by mythology, history, science and literature. She expresses concern about ecology, survival and the delicate balance between sustainability and progress in her work.

An artist whose name is synonymous with large-scale sculpture in the landscape, many of Virginia King’s works are commissions for private patrons around the world and rarely seen by the general public. In the public arena, the most well-known are Reed Vessel in the Melbourne Docklands, and in Auckland, the Rewarewa Creek Footbridge, the David Lange Memorial and Aramarama Millenium Footbridge. King was the 2010 Bondi Sculpture by the Sea Distinguished Invited Artist. In early 2006 she participated in the New Zealand garden at Chelsea. King was awarded an Antarctic Artistic Fellowship in 1999 and has received several People Choice Awards during her career.