Posted April 02, 2017 11:36:39

Photo: In the shadow of a past creation, sculptors are busy on new granite and marble works. (Supplied: Sculptors @ Crystal Lake)

Tonnes of granite and marble are being transformed into public artworks by talented young sculptors working at a site in the Adelaide Hills.

An organiser of the Sculptors @ Crystal Lake event at Macclesfield, Silvio Apponyi, has been creating art for more than four decades and now enjoys mentoring a young generation of sculptors, while still creating his own works.

"Everything's covered in dust, but progressing well," he said, as the event got underway.

"This year we've got six young emerging sculptors, so we're giving them a chance to have a public work in a public place in the Adelaide Hills."

Mr Apponyi said the emerging artists assisted international sculptors who visited South Australia when three major sculpture events were held in the Adelaide Hills over recent years.

"Rather than calling them assistants, I'm now calling them emerging sculptors because they're actually well and truly capable of producing large works," he said.

Photo: Silvio Apponyi enjoys being a mentor to emerging sculptors. (ABC Radio Adelaide: Brett Williamson)

Mr Apponyi said the artworks were destined for various Hills locations once completed and some remained available for sponsorship.

"These sculptures are able to go into business premises — one's going to Longview Winery," he said.

"They can't end up in someone's backyard because the whole purpose of the event is to give them exposure in a public place."

Over nine days until next Sunday, the artists will be hard at work and the public can watch their creations as they develop.

"We've got 75 tonnes of marble and granite and only nine days," Mr Apponyi said.

"[Spectators can] sit there with a deck chair and just be totally amazed, with the whole process in front of you.

"Drilling, splitting [stone], cutting flat [base] surfaces so they'll stand upright, cutting curves in stone, hammering, chiselling, shaping, the whole box and dice."

Among the sculptors taking part is John Nelson, who worked in bronze when he created the work Foreign Policy to win a past Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize.

Photo: John Nelson worked in bronze to win the Waterhouse Art Prize in 2006. (Supplied: National Archives of Australia)

Topics: sculpture, visual-art, arts-and-entertainment, community-and-multicultural-festivals, community-organisations, macclesfield-5153, adelaide-5000, sa