Conchiglie

Margaret Sinclair’s work is preoccupied with the balance of masses and forms. An extensive traveller, Sinclair studied and worked in Australia, Europe, the UK and Mexico. She won numerous prizes for sculpture including the Churchill Memorial fellowship in 1966, which allowed her to study at the famous Battaglia artists foundry in Milan.  

During a visit to Kangaroo Island, Sinclair was overwhelmed by the beautiful and simple forms of fossilised shells. These images were implanted in her mind and became the starting point of Conchiglie (meaning shells), which she produced during her residency in Italy. The choice of fine-grained, pure white marble to make this work reflected the purity and simplicity the artist admired in nature.  

Sinclair was a student of Max Lyle and Owen Broughton, whose work is also represented in the Adelaide Festival Centre Works of Art Collection.