The Last Leg

Artist Claire Bailey

Date2005

Object number00040508

NameSculpture

MediumWood, steel, brass

Dimensions240 x 230 x 550 mm
3000 x 2000 x 5000 mm (entire work when displayed)

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

HistoryThe Last Leg is artist Claire Bailey's response to the waves of boat people who have migrated to Australia. In her artist's statement Clare describes how she has witnessed or been connected to three migration waves. Her parents were part of Australia great Post World War II migration to Australia. As a child she watched refugees from Vietnam arriving in boats that 'hardly seemed bigger than a bathtub' on television and she has recently witnessed the desperation of boat people from Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Claire wants her work to be provocative, reminding audiences not only of the 'epic journeys' of recent boat people, but of 'all the journeys and voyages, starting with the First Fleet that have in part created this country... The whole fabric of our culture is influenced by the migration of people arriving by sea'