I have been waiting to catch a glimpse of this sculpture for a while now. It is not officially open to public viewing yet, but after months of being literally under wraps (covered by thick canvas drop sheets), I managed to peek through the construction fencing and grab a shot.

Ouroboros is based on the ancient image of a snake eating its own tail; an image seen across cultures and millennia, the symbol of eternal return, of cycles of birth, death and renewal. Through its location at the entrance of the National Gallery, visitors will be able enter the ‘mouth’ of the sculpture and walk into the curved space to experience darkness that is illuminated by light beams emanating from the hundreds of perforations on its surface.

During the day its highly polished mirrored surface will reflect the imagery of the floating world, the transience of passers-by, cars, birds in flight and passing clouds. At night the Ouroboros will be lit internally, returning its light to the world.

National Gallery of Australia Website.

The artist who gave birth to Ouroboros is LIndy Lee, and she is also a serious student of Zen.
I remember seeing her on my first ever sesshin (a zen meditation retreat typically lasting 7 days) with the Sydney Zen Centre. She stuck in my memory as between meditation periods she would always be sitting on the long wooden veranda immersed (writing?, drawing? birthing the ouroboros?) on her (then newly released) iPad Pro.
I had serious tech envy.