Peninsula pearls by Manon Van Kouswijk is the sixth in an ongoing series of major public art commissions installed on the Peninsula Link freeway, the Southern Way McClelland Commissions. The work presents a giant pearl chain and beaded necklace comprising over thirty large spheres suspended at differing heights between four to ten metres. White on the front and brightly coloured on the back, these balls provide multiple visual references such as buoys, beach balls, map pins, Ferris wheels, and the history of modernist design on the Mornington Peninsula. It provides an anamorphic illusion when driving past it on the freeway, forming a perfect circular chain at one point before appearing to dissipate into more dynamic configurations. The design was developed with Monash Art Projects (MAP).

Manon van Kouswijk is a Dutch artist and contemporary jeweller who lives and works in Melbourne. She studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where she held the position of Head of the Jewellery Department before relocating to Australia in 2010. Her working methodology is based on exploring the visual and conceptual potential of well-known jewellery forms and motifs and translating them through a range of materials and processes.

Images: Manon Van Kouswijk, Peninsula pearls 2021, Peninsula Link Freeway, Melbourne. Photos Steve Brown and Simon Lawrie.