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Damian Vick - Hide and Seek

Upon completion of the Devon Street carpark, Croydon in 2022 and following a public call for expressions of interest, artist Damian Vick was selected by Maroondah City Council to design and fabricate two large-scale sculptures based on the McCoy’s Skink.

Vick is a Melbourne-based artist with extensive experience in large-scale sculptures in metal. His work has been commissioned by numerous local government organisations including the City of Casey and the City of Frankston.

Affixed to the exterior walls of the building, the works have been created through a process of a laser cut components welded together and then finished with a powder coating. The works pay homage to the McCoy’s skink, a notable breed that derives heat from nestling in compost and leaf matter during the winter months. Skinks featured strongly as part of the artist’s personal experience growing up in Croydon. Designed to match the material palette of the building, the sculptures appear to be camouflaged within the architectural context, playfully insinuating a game of ‘Hide and Seek’.

Interesting facts

Below are some interesting facts about skinks provided by local naturalist David de Angelis at the launch of the public artwork on Wednesday 26 April 2023:

Australia is home to more skink species than any other country in the world, with over 450 species currently recognised as occurring here.
Skinks are a family of lizards, distinguished from others like dragons and goannas by a combination of features such as their fleshy tongues, often having smooth scales and shield-like scales on top of their heads.
McCoy’s Skink (Anespischetosia maccoyi) is of particular significance to Maroondah, as a preserved individual in the Melbourne Museum that was chosen to be the main representative specimen for the entire species was collected in Ringwood.
The species was named in 1894 after Sir Frederick McCoy, an Irish naturalist who was one of the first professors at the University of Melbourne and an early director of Melbourne’s main museum.
The first part of the species' scientific name (genus) has undergone a long history of name changes, most recently being placed in Anepischetosia, after it was realised that the previous name, Anepischetos, had historically been used to describe a genus of moths.
The species’ uniqueness means that it’s considered to be the only member of its genus, so has no very close relatives.
Rather than basking in sunlight as many other reptiles do, McCoy's Skink is probably best described as a thermal conformer, maintaining a lower body temperature than most other lizards. The species shelters under dense ground vegetation, leaflitter and logs that provide it with some warmth and insulation.
Because of its secretive habits, McCoy’s Skink is not often seen. When exposed to the sun, different colours reflect off its shiny grey-brown body. It has a bright yellow or orange belly.
Council is working with The First Friends of Dandenong Creek, Melbourne Water and others to monitor and protect habitat for other skink species found in Maroondah that are considered threatened in Victoria and nationally, including the Glossy Grass Skink (Pseudemoia rawlinsoni) and Swamp Skink (Lissolepis coventryi). These and other skink species continue to face threats including from incremental habitat loss and disturbance, introduced predators and climate change.