The abstraction of the landscape has been a continuing theme throughout my sculpture practice since the mid 1980s. The simplified forms in my sculpture are symbolic representations of the patterns found in the landscape – a tree, the sun, the moon or a star. In this particular work, 'Two Figures – Five Trees', I make reference to the landscape, whilst also citing the silhouette of two figures.

Materiality is explored and highlighted within the works, with emphasis placed on high-key coloured finishes and reflective surfaces.

- Peter D. Cole

Sculptor Peter D. Cole was born in Gawler, South Australia and trained at the South Australian School of Art between 1965 and 1968. Since the 1980’s Cole has been based in the Kyneton District of Victoria, where he has established himself as one of Australia’s senior and most renowned contemporary sculptors, drawing on the landscape as a source of inspiration and recent research trips to Japan and India have added to his rich source material.

As a public artist, Cole has made a significant contribution to the urban landscape and public spaces of Australia receiving the Australian National Trust Heritage Award and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architecture Award of Merit for Foundation Park, a permanent work at The Rocks, Sydney. He is highly sought for commissions and his work is prominent in many public and corporate collections throughout Australia, including Parliament House, Canberra, the National Gallery of Australia, and Brisbane International Airport and recently Windsor Railway Station precinct. He was awarded the H.P. Gill medal for top student and the Contemporary arts Society award for drawing in 1968 and has exhibited regularly since 1969 with exhibitions in Australia and America, with notably a solo exhibition in 1995 at The Carpenter Centre, Harvard University USA.

Cole lectured in sculpture between 1975 and 2001 and has worked continuously on his practice encompassing sculpture, painting, drawing, printmaking, design and architecture. His work is represented in many collections both private and public throughout Australia, America, Japan and Europe.