Outdoor Sculptures in the Australian Outback (8 Photos)

Art Beyond the Big Cities

Steel people on a salt lake, lights by Uluru and a crashed spaceship in an opal town. These eight stops range from open desert to small-town streets.

More: Strange Finds (9 Photos vol. 2)

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🧍 “Inside Australia” — By Antony Gormley at Lake Ballard, Western Australia 🇦🇺

Fifty-one thin figures stand far apart on the dry salt crust of Lake Ballard in Western Australia’s Goldfields, and you walk out across the lakebed to reach them. Each one is based on a laser scan of a resident of nearby Menzies, kept at that person’s real height but made half as wide. Visiting every figure means a walk of about 9 miles (14 km) on the salt.

💡 Outback Fact: It was meant to be a temporary installation, but it stayed, and Gormley later gifted the work to Western Australia for $1.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsInside AustraliaAntony Gormley · Lake Ballard, near Menzies51 figuresGifted to WA in 200751 km west of Menzies1Each figure comes from a laser scan of a Menzies resident, kept at full height but made half as wide.Shire of Menzies2Western Australia announced on 25 October 2007 that Gormley had gifted the work, making it a permanent fixture.Government of Western Australia2003CSIRO field trip photographs a figure (Commons gives 7 Nov 2003; its description says May 2003)2003JanInstallation recorded by the artist200725 OctPermanent gift announced by Western Australia200911 MarTamsin Slater photographs Inside Australia at Lake Ballard201123 AprPhoto of a rust-brown figure on dry white salt crust202127 DecRick Ardon visits the 51 sculptures · The West Australian / Countryman202417 JulFirst-person account published with photographs; visit date unspecified2024DecListed among WA's top public artworks, 51 figures · RAC HorizonsMore photos2003 First yearPhoto: Sarah Dowling, CSIRO / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)2011 Rusted figurePhoto: cardboardbird / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo (also in cover): Amanda Slater / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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🐴 The Tin Horse Highway — Kulin, Australia 🇦🇺

Around 100 horses, built mostly from old oil drums and tins, stand along the road outside Kulin, a wheatbelt farming town in Western Australia. Locals keep adding new ones.

💡 Road Fact: The first horses went up in the mid-1990s to point drivers to the Kulin Bush Races, and new ones still appear before the races each October.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsThe Tin Horse HighwayKulin locals · Kulin, Western Australia15 km of roadBuilt by Kulin localsMid-1990s (ABC)1The Tin Horse Highway runs 15 km east from Kulin to the Kulin Bush Races track at Jilakin Rock.Shire of Kulin2It began in the mid-1990s as a way to draw visitors to the then-new Kulin Bush Races, according to ABC News.ABC News200618 MarPhoto of a tin horse near Kulin · Wikimedia Commons201318 OctNewest horse wins an award at the Kulin Bush Races · Countryman201427 SepAt least 30 horses line the road · ABC News20205 OctSet of photos along the highway · Wikimedia Commons202515 JanAround 100 horses counted · Caravan World20266 AprA 2025 competition entry now stands on the highway · CRISP Wireless202630 JulRegistrations open for this year's Tin Horse Competition · Shire of KulinMore photos2006 A cow-patterned tin horse by the Tin Horse Highway signPhoto: Gnangarra / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5 AU)Read the full file →

📷 Photo (also in cover): Calistemon / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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✨ “Field of Light” — By Bruce Munro near Uluru, Australia 🇦🇺

About 50,000 solar-powered glass stems glow across the red sand within sight of Uluru, covering an area the size of about seven football fields. Munro first pictured the idea on a camping trip to Uluru in 1992.

💡 Desert Fact: It opened in 2016 as a temporary installation and has since been extended until at least the end of 2029.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsField of LightBruce Munro · 2016 · Near Uluru, Northern Territory50,000 light stemsSolar poweredAyers Rock Resort1Bruce Munro first imagined the work while camping at Uluru in 1992; it opened there 24 years later, in 2016.The Art Newspaper2Its 50,000 stems run on solar power: the Uluru version was Munro's first solar-powered Field of Light.Bruce Munro Studio201623 FebAnnounced for 1 April · The Art Newspaper20161 AprOpened at Ayers Rock Resort · designboom201710 MayPhoto of the lit field, after its planned end date202522 JanRefurbished; extension to April 2027 announced (since superseded) · Travel Weekly20255 OctPhoto taken at night202611 Feb10th anniversary celebrations announced · Voyages202631 MarExtension to at least end of 2029 confirmed at 10th anniversary · Voyages20262 Apr10-year celebration held at Ayers Rock Resort · Travel WeeklyMore photos2016 First yearPhoto: Romain Pontida / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)2017 Past its planned endPhoto: Paul Balfe / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: DaHuzyBru / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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🚀 The Pitch Black Spaceship — Coober Pedy, Australia 🇦🇺

A crashed spaceship sits on a mound of red dirt on Hutchison Street in Coober Pedy, the opal-mining town where many people live underground. It is a prop from the 2000 sci-fi film Pitch Black.

💡 Film Fact: The prop was left behind after filming and now stands outside the Opal Cave shop.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsThe Pitch Black SpaceshipProp from Pitch Black (2000) · Coober Pedy, South AustraliaFilm propPitch Black (2000)Opal Cave car park1The spaceship is a prop from the film Pitch Black (2000), starring Vin Diesel.BIG42Travel writers say the film's makers left the spaceship in Coober Pedy after shooting.Lazer Horse200721 FebPhoto by Rob Chandler201410 SepDescribed by Lazer Horse20193 NovListed by Differentville202030 AprStill As Life (page updated): in the Opal Cave car park on Hutchison St202119 NovWeekend guide by Boss Hunting20224 JanTravel guide by Beyond Wild Places202627 JunListed outside Opal Cave by Things To Do in Coober Pedy (details checked)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: Rob Chandler / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

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🪓 “Yuundu Yuundu” — By Ken Hutchinson in the Pilliga, Australia 🇦🇺

Deep in the Pilliga forest of northern New South Wales, at Dandry Gorge in Timmallallie National Park, two carved stones stand side by side: a dark one shaped like a Gamilaroi stone axe head and a white one shaped like the steel axe of the timber cutters. The name means “Axe Axe”, linking Gamilaroi stone tools with the timber cutters who came later.

💡 Bush Fact: It is one of five sculptures on the Sculptures in the Scrub walk by different artists, each made with local Aboriginal Elders and telling a story of the area’s Aboriginal history.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsYuundu YuunduKen Hutchinson · Dandry Gorge, Pilliga, New South WalesSculptures in the ScrubDandry GorgeTimmallallie National Park1According to the on-site board, Yuundu is a Gamilaroi word for 'axe', and the two axe heads represent Aboriginal stone-axe and European axe technology.Dragonfly47 blog2The sculptor said the many axe-grinding marks at Dandry Gorge gave him the idea.Dragonfly47 blog20136 OctPhotographed with its information board · Snap Happy Birding blog2017Visited on a 2017 trip · Australia So Much to See201816 AprPhoto of both axe heads · Wikimedia Commons20234 AprDescribed in a walk guide · Topwire TravellerRead the full file →

📷 Photo: JulieMay54 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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🌳 Tree of Knowledge Memorial — By m3architecture and Brian Hooper Architect in Barcaldine, Australia 🇦🇺

Striking shearers met under a ghost gum in Barcaldine in 1891. The tree was poisoned in 2006, so its preserved trunk now stands under a 59-foot (18-meter) cube of about 3,600 hanging timber battens that recreate the shade of its canopy.

💡 History Fact: The memorial opened in 2009. The 1891 strike is often linked to the birth of the Australian Labor Party.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsTree of Knowledge Memorialm3architecture and Brian Hooper Architect · 2009 · Barcaldine, Queensland3,600 hanging timbers18 metres highOpened 2 May 20091About 3,600 hanging timber slats trace the canopy of the ghost gum where the Australian Labour party is said to have been founded in 1891.Dezeen2The poisoned tree's root ball is shown through a glass floor panel under the 18-metre memorial, opened in 2009.Dezeen20092 MayMemorial officially opened in Barcaldine · Wikipedia200913 NovFeatured by Dezeen201319 MarPhoto of the memorial by Mark Marathon20154 JunPhoto of the memorial by Vic Bushing201918 MarDescribed by Outback Magazine202029 SepPhoto of the memorial by Joshua Ryan202610 MarCouncil limits public access for structural assessmentMore photos2013 Canopy and trunk seen from the sidePhoto: Mark Marathon / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)2015 Looking up into the hanging timbersPhoto: Vic Bushing / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: Joshua Ryan / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

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🗿 The Marree Man — near Marree, Australia 🇦🇺

A charter pilot spotted it from the air on 26 June 1998: the outline of a hunter with a throwing stick, 1.7 miles (2.7 km) tall, cut into the plateau about 37 miles (60 km) west of Marree. Its outline is about 17 miles (28 km) long.

💡 Mystery Fact: Nobody has ever proven who made it. The lines had almost faded away when they were re-graded in 2016 with the agreement of the Arabana people, the Traditional Owners.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsMarree ManMaker unknown · 1998 · Near Marree, South AustraliaMaker unknown28 km outlineRedrawn 20161The figure of an Aboriginal hunter appeared on a South Australian plateau in 1998, and its maker has never been identified.SBS News2Locals redrew the faded outline with GPS and a grader over five days in August 2016.NASA Earth Observatory199826 JunSpotted from the air by a charter pilot · Wikipedia201620 AugFaded figure redrawn with a grader · SBS News201825 JunDick Smith offers a $5000 reward for the makers · SBS News201922 JunLandsat 8 satellite view · NASA Earth Observatory20254 NovFeatured in Earth from space · Live ScienceMore photos2019 Redrawn figure from spacePhoto: Lauren Dauphin, NASA Earth Observatory (Landsat data: USGS) / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: Peter Campbell / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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👽 Wycliffe Well — Stuart Highway, Australia 🇦🇺

This roadhouse at Wycliffe Well on the Stuart Highway, 233 miles (375 km) north of Alice Springs, called itself the “UFO capital of Australia”. After a local newspaper story about sightings in the late 1980s, the owner filled it with alien murals, props and saucers.

💡 Alien Fact: A flood in 2022 forced everyone out and the site has stood abandoned since, but this saucer was still there in 2023, when the photo was taken.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsWycliffe Well UFO RoadhouseLew Farkas (owner) · Wycliffe Well, Northern TerritoryUFO capital of AustraliaStuart Highway, NTOwner Lew Farkas (from 1985)1Owner Lew Farkas told Vice a mural of a UFO based on a local sighting led them to convert every wall to an alien theme.Vice2After a 2022 flood forced the operators out, the site was abandoned and vandalised, its alien statues decapitated.ABC News200211 OctFuel forecourt with UFO murals behind the pumps · Wikimedia Commons200531 MarGreen alien figures and 'UFO Centre' wall murals · Wikimedia Commons200728 OctGreen alien figures on the grounds · Wikimedia Commons20083 FebAlien mural on the roadhouse wall, aliens on the roof · Wikimedia Commons201721 SepVisit and Lew Farkas interview; décor 'broken, faded, unloved' · Vice202322 JunPainted flying-saucer sculpture and alien murals photographed · Wikimedia Commons202422 JulAbandoned and vandalised; decapitated alien statue pictured · ABC News202519 JunRoadhouse abandoned; landing pad partly smashed, aliens decapitated · Australian GeographicMore photos2005 Alien figures and muralsPhoto: Pavel Špindler / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)2007 Green alien figuresPhoto: Nicolai Bangsgaard / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)2008 Roadhouse alien muralPhoto: AwOiSoAk KaOsIoWa / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: Wycliffewellvisitor / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

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Planning an Outback Art Road Trip

These eight stops are spread across four states and the Northern Territory, so few travelers see them all on one trip. The easiest cluster follows the Stuart Highway, the long road between Port Augusta and Darwin: it runs through Coober Pedy in South Australia and past Wycliffe Well north of Alice Springs, and Uluru is a long detour west along the Lasseter Highway.

Lake Ballard lies about 32 miles (51 km) west of Menzies, and there is free bush camping on site but no drinking water, so bring your own. Allow at least two to three hours to reach a good number of the figures; walking out to all 51 takes much longer. Go early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when the low sun throws long shadows from the figures across the lake.