Bull

Winning competition entry for the Embassy of Australia, Washington USA.

This work addresses the American-Australian alliance through the legacy of Second World War hero Corporal Leslie Allen. ‘Bull’, as he was affectionately known, was born and raised in Ballarat, Australia. He and his siblings were abandoned as children and raised for a time in an orphanage. He enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force in April 1940 and was a stretcher-bearer in the 2/5th Battalion. He saw many tours of duty but famously distinguished himself twice in New Guinea. First on the 7th and 8th of February 1943 during fighting at Crystal Creek, where he rescued Australian soldiers under fire.Then on the 30th July 1943 during the Battle of Mount Tambu, when he responded to the cries of wounded American soldiers, ploughing into the field of battle alone to rescue them. By the time the battle was done he had carried at least twelve wounded Americans to safety, each one draped over his shoulder. According to one report “He had about seven touches altogether (from enemy rounds) but he had holes in his hat, he had holes in his sleeve, he had holes in his pants, he had holes under his shirt...” For his bravery at Crystal Creek he was awarded the Military Medal and for his bravery at Mount Tambu he was awarded the US Silver Star.

Allen suffered psychological scars from the war that he carried with him for the rest of his life. When he returned home to Ballarat he had lost the power of speech and was discharged from the army in 1944. He found it hard to adjust to life back home, moving from job to job. When he died he was working at the historical gold mine of Sovereign Hill, demonstrating a horse-drawn Chilean quartz-crushing mill for tourists. The idea for this work begins where his story ended. A small piece of quartz was selected from offcuts at Sovereign Hill, one that could balance on its tip. The rock was digitally scanned, cast in bronze and patinated at monumental scale, the form intact except for a severe slice of dark mirror at its rear, representing the traumas, losses, absences and holes incurred by Bull as a result of his heroism. The work speaks to the tragedy and collective trauma of global conflict and the history of extractive industries like gold mining, but most importantly remains a tender monument to one man’s extraordinary actions and its personal consequences. It embodies the burden that ‘Bull’ slung across his shoulders on that day on Mount Tambu, like Atlas bearing the weight of the world.