Erica Zaino was celebrating her birthday on Cottesloe Beach with a friend — her first after moving to Perth from Italy — surrounded by hot-pink umbrellas and balloons when someone approached to ask if she was part of Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe.
“I told them ‘No, but maybe one day I’ll try for it’, and then it happened,” Zaino laughs.
“I’d come here as an exchange student at UWA, which was supposed to be for six months, and I’ve been here for 17 years now.”
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOWMotherhood and full-time work as an architect put Zaino’s sculptural ambitions on the back burner until she had more time to focus on her art in 2021. Her dream came to fruition at Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe 2022 with her artwork Beyond Doorways — Oltre Le Porte.
Zaino followed this up in 2023 with Labyrinth — Labirinto, with her curved mirror taking home the $5000 Alcoa aluminium award for showcasing aluminium in a creative way.
Zaino is known for her large-scale sculpture, generally featuring reflective qualities.
Her third consecutive Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe piece, The Temple of Time, continues to invite audience reflection during the exhibition’s 20th anniversary year.
“Because the artists were invited to exhibit for the 20th year, I was actually inspired by the concept of time,” the Stirling sculptor says.
“It’s quite lightweight and you can reflect, seeing the past, present and future while walking through it. The piece will change according to daytime or night time, and depending on how the sun and clouds move, it will reflect different things as well.”
Zaino consulted with engineers to ensure the sculpture could sustain the winds of Cottesloe Beach, fabricating the work herself out of polycarbonate and aluminium. The sheets were laser-cut with millimetre precision.
“I can also paint, but I prefer sculpture because I like people to interact with my art pieces, to move around and feel and touch,” she says.
“Sometimes I like to sit and pretend I’m not the artist and just hear what people say about it. I’ll be curious to see what happens this year. I hope they walk through and play around with the light and the reflection.”