David Wood in St Kilda

From down to earth to outer space, David Woods’s sculptural metal work is fun. Wandering around St. Kilda with my brother, a tourist from Canada and a Paul Kelly fan, I accidentally encountered some of his public art, which is fortunate because I don’t get to St Kilda very often, as it is on the opposite side of this vast urban sprawl of my neighbourhood in the north. And I’ve had a request to write about his art.

David Wood’s gate Veg Out Garden in St Kilda (photo by Chris)

We thought we saw the ironwork gates at the Veg Out Garden in St Kilda, I didn’t know who had made it was just a look at that “cool gate” moment. A gate is a practical piece of public art, functioning, even if symbolically. The dark, beaten metal leaves and stems contrast with the cast golden glass pears. I knew David Wood had made a gate for the garden but it turns out it wasn’t the gate I was looking for. The photo above is Wood’s gate. And this isn’t Wood’s only gate in St. Kilda. He has five gates at the St Kilda Botanic Gardens. Veg Out Gardens is worth a look, too, for its other sculptural elements in the community garden. Being in St. Kilda it is not your regular community garden with neatly divided plots.

Then, when we went to get the tram on Acland Street, there was David Wood’s Smik Rocket, a metal retro sci-fi-style rocket crashing through the shop’s awning. Its aerodynamic body riveted together out of sheet metal. Whoever was piloting the rocket needs to have their eyes tested. What is now an optometrist shop was formerly Smik Hair.

This is fantastic fun, a sculptural reality inspiring daily fantasies. Looking at other people’s photographs online, I can see the rocket has been rebranded, and the smaller figures have been removed. Initially, there were three little blue men with polychromatic cones of hair and a purple alien couple.

For over 30 years, Wood has worked mostly in metal. He has outdoor public sculptures across the city: Spirit of Place in Elsternwick Park, Spirit of Progress in Donnybrae, Acacia, the Three Elders in Cranbourne, Merrifield Wall in Mickleham, and Ode to Spirit of Endurance in Berwick. With this spread across the metropolis, perhaps there is one near you however, Wood’s work in St Kilda is all I’ve seen so far.