Patricia Anne Moseley, South Australian Sculptor, Dies at 85

Patricia Anne Moseley, a South Australian sculptor known for creating bronze portrait busts from photographs, died last month in Robe at the age of 85. Her public works include sculptures of historical figures located in Adelaide and regional South Australia. Moseley was a Fellow of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts.

Biographical Background

Birth and Early Life
Patricia Moseley was born in 1941 and grew up on a family farm near Keith, South Australia.

Horse Training Career
In the 1960s, she acquired a thoroughbred trainer's licence. According to her friend Claire Elliot, this made her the first woman in South Australia to do so.

Start in Sculpture
Moseley began sculpting in 1982. She stated she was looking for an activity when her son started school. According to her 2019 memoir, her first work was a stone relief of her daughter, carved using her grandfather's chisels.

Training
She was largely self-taught but studied briefly at the Lorenzo De Medici Institute in Florence, Italy, in the 1980s. She later described this experience as enriching but not guiding her own work.

Artistic Practice and Commissions

Method
Moseley worked primarily from photographs, not live models. Long-time friend James Yates stated she had a photographic memory and an ability to reproduce facial features.

Source of Work
Most of her commissions came through word of mouth.

Self-Description
In a 2012 ABC radio interview, Moseley said she did not teach sculpture, explaining she could not describe the process of transferring an image from a photograph into a clay portrait.

She attributed her skill to an eidetic memory, stating, "I think in pictures. Show me a picture or a face and I will never forget it."

Notable Works

Moseley's sculptures include commissions for private families, public figures, and public projects.

Public Commissions & Notable Subjects:

• Mary Lee: A bronze bust of the suffragist, created from a single photograph, located in Prince Henry Gardens on North Terrace, Adelaide.
• Explorers: Sculptures of explorers Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders, installed overlooking Guichen Bay in Robe.
• Tom Kruse: A bust of the Birdsville Track mailman. According to her partner, John Hinge, this bust has been reproduced four times and is located at the Birdwood Motor Museum, Maree, Birdsville, and Waterloo.
• Vivian Bullwinkel: A bust of the nurse located at Millicent.
• Other Figures: Busts of cricketer Sir Donald Bradman (1999), poet Adam Lindsay Gordon (2004), Ruth Tuck OAM (1997), and historian Hugh Stretton.

Racing Industry Commissions:
Through her connections, she created busts of horse trainers Colin Hayes, David Hayes, and Bart Cummings.

Recognition and Statements

Fellowship
Moseley was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts.

Assessment by Associate
James Yates described her ability to create life-like sculptures from photographs as "extraordinary" and stated she could "bring out the personality of her subjects."

"I think Pat flew under the radar considering just how exceptional she was," Yates said.

Call for Memorial
James Yates has expressed a desire for a public memorial to commemorate Moseley's achievements and recognize her contribution to the arts in South Australia, suggesting a plaque near her sculptures in Robe.