Australia’s most expensive public artwork has been unveiled at the National Gallery in Canberra

“Larger-than-life” is one way to describe the National Gallery of Australia’s (NGA) latest and most expensive artwork, which was finally unveiled in Canberra after an exhilarating three-year wait.

Titled ‘Ouroboros’, this spectacular $14 million masterpiece was commissioned to celebrate the NGA’s 40th anniversary in 2022 and took more than 60,000 hours to bring to life. The visionary behind it all is Chinese-Australian artist Lindy Lee, who fabricated the immersive sculpture in Brisbane with the help of more than 200 art specialists.

Suspended over a shallow pond in the NGA’s public Sculpture Garden, this impressive 13-tonne sculpture is Lee’s most ambitious and complex work to date. It also stands tall – 4.2 metres high, to be precise – as one of the nation’s first sustainable public artworks, made from recycled scrap metal sourced exclusively in Australia.

‘Ouroboros’ is the most recent addition to Lee’s decade-long series of large-scale reflective sculptures titled The Life of Stars. Inspired by the ancient tale of the same name, the artwork symbolises a self-eating snake, embodying themes of birth, death and renewal in Chinese culture.

By day, the shiny stainless steel sculpture reflects the imagery of the floating world. At night, visitors – limited to two at a time – can step inside the snake’s ‘mouth’ to immerse themselves in the darkness that is illuminated by light beams radiating from 45,000 small perforations on its mirrored surface.

Throughout the three-year design process, Lee collaborated with Ngunnawal Elder Aunty Jude Barlow to honour and integrate local First Nations knowledge into the immersive installation. They identified strong links between the symbol of the ouroboros and the rainbow serpent, with the sculpture’s placement in water celebrating ties between the two cultures.

In conjunction with the unveiling of Lee’s latest masterpiece, the NGA has launched a retrospective showcasing artistic highlights from the Chinese-Australian artist’s 40-year colourful career. ‘Lindy Lee’ is free to explore at the NGA from October 25, 2024 to June 1, 2025, while ‘Ouroboros’ will greet visitors at the gallery entrance for generations to come. You can find out more about ‘Ouroboros’ here.

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