Bruce Armstrong (1957 – 2024)

Bruce Armstrong is dead, but his sculptures will live on as symbols of Melbourne. They have become part of the city’s collective consciousness, physically present every day in people’s lives. Armstrong carved the bears, eagles, cats, and other beasts of our imaginations. His Eagle (Bunjil) unites Kulin, colonists and immigrants with an eagle drawing from the Jungian symbols in our collective unconscious.

Armstrong worked at a monumental scale. Two people hugging is monumental when Armstrong carved them. Even his small sculptures have a hieratic presence, suggesting they could exist at any scale.

My first memory of his sculptures was his two guardian beasts in front of the NGV’s arch. I remember walking past the huge carved logs and hearing some Aussie bloke ask his wife, “Do you reckon I could do this with a chainsaw?” Not wanting to say a discouraging word, I replied, “But will you?” Because it was Bruce Armstrong who did.

Bruce Armstrong, Two Persons Hugging, Footscray

Geoffery Barlett & Bruce Armstrong “Constellation”, 1997, wood and steel, detail

Bruce Armstrong, Untitled, 1986

Bruce Armstrong, Still Life (Mirror), 1994