create Tasmania’s timber industry and build its vast human anatomy, skulls and so forth and not the sort
hydro-electric schemes. of pieces people would buy. But as time went on I
Each panel is carved in what Greg calls “flat relief” was able to sell pretty well everything I made. There
- similar to the style seen on minted coins. The subtle are probably no more than half a dozen sculptors in
use of light and shadow enables each piece to take Australia able to make a decent living. I’m happy to
on a three-dimensional aspect. With the maximum say I’m one of them.”
depth of the carving at around 40mm, there’s no About 16 years ago Greg travelled to Tasmania
room for error. Greg works from reference material in search of its world renowned Huon Pine, the
that includes historic photographs, drawings and life ancient softwood that’s saturated in natural oils
models. He begins with a simple line drawing and and regarded as a peerless boat building timber. At
removes all extraneous material leaving the figure the tiny village of Derwent Bridge (population 15),
within the drawing standing proud. With a mallet, a high up in the geographic centre of the island, in the
series of chisels and lots of sandpaper, he gradually midst of a great highland forest close to the World
brings the figure to life. It’s a process that usually Heritage listed Lake St Clair National Park, he found
takes four weeks to complete. his Shangri-la in 650 acres of wilderness. He stayed
Greg Duncan is a gifted natural artist. Although for six months and during that time every piece of
he has never had any formal training, he has an sculpture he created sold within a week, usually to
instinctive understanding of the creative process. European tourists. He came back the following year
After many years of relentless practice he works for three months. Once again his work sold as soon
swiftly, deftly and with complete self-confidence, as it was finished.
which is all the more amazing when you realise that The experience prompted the Duncans to relocate
he took on full-time professional sculpture only after to Tasmania and they settled for six years around
a previous career as a tradesman electrician. After his Hobart. During his time at Derwent Bridge, Greg had
four year apprenticeship Greg tackled a succession of discovered the remains of an old stone homestead
not very satisfying jobs. He worked in factories, on hidden in the bush, a relic of the early nineteenth
oilrigs and in his own business until at the age of 25 century pioneers. He approached the owner, but the
he suddenly decided to quit being an electrician and property was not for sale. Seven years later the owner
focus on becoming a full-time professional sculptor. called him out of the blue. Was he still interested?
“Sculpture had always interested me,” he said. He most certainly was. Having designed and built
“I thought, ‘right, I’ll give that a go.’ I was good at themselves a modest cottage and workshop among the
drawing and I figured that sculpture was really just giant eucalypts, the Duncans then began to think about
drawing with a chisel. I quickly realised just how ways in which they might create a permanent space in
naïve that notion was. It was a hell of a lot harder which to exhibit Greg’s sculpture. The idea was not to
than I ever expected, but I stuck at it. I learned that sell his work, but to exhibit it and in the process to tell
good sculpture is the product of time as well as skill. the story of Tasmania’s human history. Thus the concept
There are no textbooks on sculpture. I had to learn of the Wall in the Wilderness was born.
it all the hard way, by trial and error. It’s been a Work on their gallery started during one of the
sometimes painful process, but I have no doubt it’s coldest winters on record. Heavy snow fell and long,
made me a better sculptor.” spear-like icicles hung from the gallery’s corrugated
Greg’s great leap into the artistic unknown came iron roof. To make matters worse, in the middle of
at a time when he and his wife, Margy, had two small construction the Duncans found they had blown
children and a hefty home mortgage. “There are their budget. Undaunted, Greg and Margy set to work
times,” he said, “when you have to trust in yourself in the freezing cold and finished the job themselves.
and go forward. It wasn’t easy to forego a steady “There were many times when I felt like quitting,”
income, but that’s what I did and it’s worked out Greg said. “We went through a lot of pain, a lot of
okay.” It has indeed. anguish. I give my wife credit for keeping my chin up.
Greg couldn’t afford to buy timber when he started She never wavered. She believes in me. She believes
sculpting so he made do with scrap pieces of hard- in the dream we’ve built together. The success of this
as-iron Mallee and Red Gum found on his property place owes a lot to her.”
by the banks of the Murray River. “In those days,” Derwent Bridge and The Wall in the Wilderness
he said, “I couldn’t afford decent sculpting chisels. I now feature prominently on the well-worn Tasmanian
used the same four old chisels over and over again, tourism trail. The Wall remains a work in progress
but each time I made something I learned something. and is expected to be completed in about seven years.
A lot of my early pieces didn’t sell. They looked good In the meantime visitors are welcome.
and they were well made, but they were studies in For further details visit www.thewalltasmania.com
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