Attracting around half a million visitors each year, Sydney’s Sculpture by the Sea has become an iconic Sydney art event. In 2008, Mark McClelland created a signature sculptural work for the exhibition, dramatically sited in a prominent position on the eastern edge of Mark’s Park.

She Thought grew straight from its unique location and expresses the way the artist feels about Bondi’s coastline and other landscapes. As an artist Mark likes to convey the idea that nature cannot be contained. The work responded to the scale and drama of the coastal environment and the interventions that occur; container ships on the horizon, little fishing boats brave in that huge sea, whales breaching, aeroplane contrails against a too blue sky. She Thought was awarded the major Sculpture Prize at Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2008.

“Sculpture by the Sea…The site specific works, such as Mark McClelland’s She Thought reframe the landscape and remove the pretension that can accompany contemporary art”


Annemarie Lopez, The Sydney Magazine Issue No. 79 November 2008

“This show depends vitally on the interaction between art and nature, and when the partnership works well, as in last year’s winning entry by Mark McClelland, it enhances the viewer’s experience of both entities”

John McDonald, Spectrum, The Sydney Morning Herald, November 14 2008