Lisa Roet
born Naarm/Melbourne 1967
Orangutan Foot
2007–2008
bronze
Gift of Richard and Jan Frolich 2015. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program. NGA 2015.1168.
This work of art is on long term loan from the National Gallery of Australia with support from the Australian Government as part of Sharing the National Collection.
On long-term loan from the National Gallery of Australia, Orangutan Foot (2007–08) invites reflection on the relationship between humans and the natural world. Cast in bronze and enlarged beyond human scale, the sculpture isolates and magnifies the orangutan’s foot — a form that is both familiar and strikingly human.
By drawing attention to this single anatomical feature, Lisa Roet highlights the close evolutionary connections shared between humans and primates. Both intimate and monumental, the work encourages consideration of coexistence, vulnerability, and our place within the broader ecological landscape.
Lisa Roet is an internationally recognised Australian artist whose practice explores the complex relationships between humans and our primate relatives. Working across sculpture, installation, printmaking and multimedia, she investigates themes of evolution, communication, identity and the biological and emotional connections shared across species.
For more than two decades, Roet’s research-driven practice has included residencies at international zoos and field studies of apes in the forests of Borneo. Her work challenges perceptions of the divide between humans and animals while encouraging reflection on science, culture and the natural world. Roet has exhibited extensively throughout Australia and internationally, and her work is represented in major public and private collections.
More about Lisa’s work: https://www.lisaroet.com/