Find the standing surfer beside the coastal path near Dutch Inn playground, opposite Princes Street. Look from the path and adjoining public grass.
WA sculptor April Pine often explores the human body through repeated lines and layers, creating figures that shift between solidity and transparency. In Pause, the subject is deliberately still - a roughly 2.4-metre-high surfer caught in one of the quiet moments around surfing rather than the action of a wave.
Your movement activates the sculpture. Walk slowly past and the aluminium elements line up to form a strong silhouette, then separate again as your viewpoint changes. Beside Dutch Inn, the ocean showing through the figure becomes part of the work.
Pause was exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea, Cottesloe in 2017 and later donated to the Town by the Browne-Cooper family in memory of Tim Browne-Cooper. Its permanent home here gives that moment of stillness a personal layer as well as a particularly fitting coastal setting.
There's more reason to pause here too. The grassy reserve beside the sculpture has a fantastic playground and plenty of shade in summer. Add the reef and beach just across the path and it's an easy spot to stop for a while, especially with kids.
Sculpture by the Sea - Cottesloe Collection