Ratimir Marijan "Ron" Gomboc is an Australian sculptor.

Biography

Gomboc was born in 1947 in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

and received his early schooling in the town of

Novi Vinodolski Novi Vinodolski (, often also called Novi or ''Novi del Vinodol'' o ''Novi in Valdivino'' in Italian) is a town on the Adriatic Sea coast in Croatia, located south of Crikvenica, Selce and Bribir and north of Senj. The population of Novi is 3,98 ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

. At the age of 13 he emigrated to Australia with his parents. On arriving in Australia he worked as a cabinet maker and builder before joining the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who ...

in 1969. After finishing his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

in 1971 he enrolled in an art course at Claremont School of Art. During the 1970s he studied art and sculpture at Midland Technical College and

Perth Technical College Central Institute of Technology was a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institution based in Perth, Western Australia until 2016 when it became a part of North Metropolitan TAFE. It was the equal oldest post-secondary educational institutio ...

. At Midland he came under the tutelage of Guy Grey-Smith, a notable modernist artist.

Art

In 1982 opened the Gomboc Gallery Sculpture Park in

Middle Swan Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ( ...

on the outskirts of Perth. In 1994 Ron Gomboc won the Mandorla Art Award with a wood, bronze, and copper sculpture called ''At the Gates'' After the death of actor

Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...

, Gomboc was commissioned to create a memorial sculpture that was installed at

Point Heathcote Point Heathcote (Goolugatup in Noongar) is a geographic feature located on the south east part of Melville Water on Swan River. It is located in Applecross, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. History The area was named after George Gage Hea ...

Applecross Applecross ( gd, A' Chomraich) is a peninsula north-west of Kyle of Lochalsh in the council area of Highland, Scotland. The name Applecross is at least 1,300 years old and is ''not'' used locally to refer to the 19th century village (which is ...

. The three piece sculpture features

yin and yang Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and ya ...

and a chessboard, a reference to Ledger's spiritual beliefs and his love of chess. Gomboc had been a friend of the Ledger family for over 30 years. Gomboc was commissioned in 2011 by the

Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsi ...

to design a statuette for the

Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) is a professional organisation of film and television practitioners in Australia. The Academy's aim is "to identify, award, promote, and celebrate Australia's greatest achievements i ...

Awards.

Honours

In 1993 Gomboc was Western Australian Citizen of the Year in the Art Culture and Entertainment category. He was awarded a

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

in 2001 for services to art.

References

1947 births 20th-century Slovenian sculptors 20th-century Slovenian male artists 21st-century Slovenian sculptors Australian artists Slovenian artists Artists from Ljubljana Artists from Perth, Western Australia Living people Yugoslav emigrants to Australia 20th-century Australian sculptors {{Australia-artist-stub