KEN SCARLETT has assembled three thoughtful reviews on sculptors whose practices differ in scale - from the intimate to the majestic - using materials both rustic and refined.

Until the mid 1970s, it was possible to count the books published on Australian sculptors on the fingers of one hand. The first book, a limited edition of 250 copies on the work of Margaret Baskerville, was published in 1929. Nearly 40 years were to elapse before the impressive volume on Karl Duldig appeared; then in the 1970s, a large-format edition on Guy Boyd and two very slim books on Clifford Last and Andor Meszaros were produced. Now, in 2009, an entire bookshelf in my study is filled with publications on Australian sculptors — three of which appeared in late 2008.

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Image: Bert Flugelman, Caryatid Minotaur, 2005, stainless steel, 330 x 300 x 150cm. Courtesy the artist. Photograph by David Perry.