Behind Victoria’s Back: Near Town Hall, Sydney

In the foreground is a shadowed open space with dark stone pavers laid in concentric circles. The space is dominated by a statue of Queen Victoria, seen from the back. The statue is in deep shade and stands in silhouette against a backdrop of tall buildings lit brightly by the late afternoon sun. The statue’s plinth is the height of two people, and a young woman in a bright yellow vest leans against it with her pushbike. She has long dark hair, long red sleeves and grey trousers, and is looking off to the side as if she’s seen someone she knows. A girl stands nearby being photographed, and various tourists, workers and window-shoppers populate the square and the street beyond. The statue on the plinth is a throne, with the back of the queen’s head visible above it. In the middle ground, a sunlit building supports a structure of scaffolding draped with huge loops of grey mesh like gathered curtains. It merges with the statue and almost seems to be part of it, or perhaps a ship that hangs in the air.