Jordan Sprigg - Daring Designs
Where’s home?
I’m from Narembeen, a small wheatbelt town just over 3 hours drive east of Perth. I schooled up to Year 10 there and then went to Wesley College in Perth. I started a degree in Psychology but in my last year I decided to take a gap year. Then I fell into the sculpting game, I didn’t think I’d be doing it for long but 10 years on, I’m still doing it.
Where do you get your inspiration?
The inspiration is easy. It’s the wide scope of the animal kingdom that inspires me really. Anything with big teeth, big claws are what I tend to be drawn to more. I also like prehistoric animals like dinosaurs so I’d love to go down that way in the future.
Do you find the materials and then decide what to make? What comes first?
No, I think of the animal and then find the scrap. After ten years, I’ve got so much scrap, I’ve got tonnes and tonnes. So I’d say it’s like a big giant jigsaw puzzle where you pull out many pieces and put them on the shed floor and you just find the piece to fit that part.
You have a few pieces in Broome. How did they find their way here?
So, the first piece was the Dromedary Camel. It actually came up to Red Sun Camels and they had it for a couple of years. When I built it, I had a number of camel operators wanting to buy it and I chose where it went, so I chose Broome. Then it was later purchased by Spinifex Brewery and that’s where it will be.
There’s more?
Yes, there’s a crocodile that’s currently on display at Willie Creek Pearls Showroom, Cable Beach and I think that’s probably the best place for it if it stays in Broome. There’s also an Australovenator, an extinct genus of Therapod dinosaur. Again, I had no idea where it was going specifically , but it just ended up here. Broome was a really good fit because of the Therapod footprints at Gantheaume Point which are a similar size. It’s permanently installed at Broome Airport. I’ve got some other smaller pieces here in Broome: a dragonfly, a barramundi and a mud crab. I’d love the croc to stay in Broome too.
Is there anything on the horizon?
I’m just about to finish an Alpine Ibex, a big mountain goat with those big horns. I was thinking of putting a sculpture on a trailer and travelling around WA with it and I could drop into schools. I find taking holidays gives me inspiration and ideas.
Do you work on commission?
No, I don’t do commissions anymore, I can’t keep up with the demand. So, I do what I want and then sell them, which is so much better because I get to build what I want and I get to have some influence over where it goes afterwards. Luckily, I get to build what inspires me.
Robyn caught up with Jordan who creates sculptures from recycled metals found from retired machinery, scrap heaps and clearance sales, giving them a new life, highlighting their age and history.
