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Enamel signs, steel, stone, glass mirrors
410 x 100 x 180cm
Winner, 2022 Montalto Sculpture Prize
Acquired 2022
Random Statistics is a towering, contemplative work constructed from recycled enamel distance counters sourced from the Victorian railways, assembled into a vertical column that reads like both an archive of distances and a monument to the ways numbers shape human experience.
At its apex sits a weather vane, a symbolic reminder of the unpredictability of fortune and misfortune, shifting with the wind.
The work speaks directly to the contemporary condition, particularly the Covid era, where society is overwhelmed by rolling statistics of human suffering, infection rates, and loss.
Rather than inviting detachment, Random Statistics urges viewers to recognise their own proximity to these numbers and the humanity within them.
Embedded mirrors create moments of subtle self-recognition. As viewers move around the sculpture, they may briefly glimpse themselves, a friend, or a stranger, positioning them as a potential “statistic” within the sculpture’s conceptual framework.
This interplay between distance and connection, anonymity and individuality, is at the heart of Van Hulsen’s artistic inquiry.
The work’s materials emphasise its meaning. The repurposed railway markers refer to journeys measured, lives quantified, and the persistent human tendency to define experience through metrics.
The sculpture becomes a memorial to distances both physical and emotional.
“Made from recycled distance counters from the Victorian railways, this tower-like shape is a memorial to distances and statistics. On top of the tower is a weather vane, representing the randomness of life's fortunes and misfortunes... in whichever way the wind blows.
Particularly in the Covid world we are constantly bombarded with numbers in human suffering. Yet we distance ourselves from such statistics. Only when misfortune touches us personally can we bridge those distances and connect with human suffering.
Imbedded in the tower are mirrors. The viewer, on close inspection, may catch a glimpse of him or herself, a friend or a stranger. All a possible random statistic.” - Jos Van Hulsen.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jos Van Hulsen
Jos Van Hulsen is a multidisciplinary artist working across sculpture, public installation, and conceptual design. His practice is grounded in material history, repurposing objects with embedded narratives to explore how people connect with place, memory, and the passage of time.
His works often sit at the intersection of craftsmanship and conceptual inquiry, encouraging audiences to pause, consider, and reorient their understanding of the familiar.
Van Hulsen’s practice draws heavily on reclaimed and utilitarian materials that carry the physical and metaphorical weight of previous lives. By reconfiguring these objects, he highlights the emotional residue embedded in everyday structures, from industrial markers to domestic remnants.
His work frequently touches on themes of urban infrastructure, migration, environmental shifts, and the inherent poetry of lived experience. Across sculpture, installation, and site-responsive commissions, he uses material narratives to create new forms that feel both recognisable and intriguingly displaced.
SELECTED CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Exhibited widely across Australia in both gallery and outdoor contexts.
Numerous public art commissions that invite community participation and reflection.
Ongoing multidisciplinary practice spanning sculpture, installation, and conceptual design.
Known for transforming utilitarian objects into visually striking forms that prompt new readings of place and memory.
VAN HULSEN AT MONTALTO
Van Hulsen’s work in the Montalto collection demonstrates his interest in recontextualisation and environmental dialogue.
Through scale, material honesty, and a subtle play between order and chaos, the sculpture anchors itself within the landscape while inviting visitors to reflect on pattern, chance, and the systems that quietly shape human experience.
Its presence on the estate underscores the artist’s broader exploration of how objects migrate through time, shedding one identity and acquiring another as they are placed into new environments.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Website: https://josvanhulsen.squarespace.com
CV / Biography: https://josvanhulsen.squarespace.com/about
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josvanhulsen/
