Welcome to the web, spider: new commission unveiled at QVMAG
After 18th months of development, a significant commission by acclaimed Australian artist Sam Jinks has finally spun its web in Launceston to take up residence at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery at Royal Park.
Inspired by ancient cultural storytelling, personal memory, and the unique QVMAG Natural Sciences collection, Jinks has painstakingly crafted a work of magnificent proportions.
Hanging from the ceiling within the Sam Jinks || Mortal Reflections exhibition, visitors will encounter a larger-than-life shining three-metre sculpture, inspired by endemic Tasmanian orb weaving spiders.
This striking new work is a heroic and poetic representation of the paradoxical mysteries of motherhood and our natural world.
It is the first time Jinks has attempted a sculpture of this kind and marks a decade long dream of making a sculpture of such emotional and engineering complexity.
City of Launceston Councillor Tim Walker said the new artwork is a powerful addition to Tasmania’s cultural landscape and a major drawcard for locals and visitors.
"To unveil a work of this standard, exclusively on display in Launceston, is just phenomenal for northern Tasmania," Cr Walker said.
“Having this sculpture created specifically for QVMAG speaks volumes about the calibre of our cultural institution and the creative energy in our community.”
“If you don’t make the trip to see this incredible life-like sculpture inspired by Tasmanian endemic spiders, you’re truly missing out.”
Best known for his emotionally charged and meticulously crafted human figures, Jinks has turned his attention back to the world of natural sciences, drawing from research of Tasmanian endemic spiders and QVMAG’s extensive collection.
Initial contact was made with the artist to loan the celebrated Jinks sculpture Woman and Child for temporary display at QVMAG. After visiting the institution and an extended period of consultation and planning, both Jinks' commission and exhibition grew exponentially in ambition and scale.
The result is the largest number of Sam Jinks’ sculptures ever shown, and now an artwork of international standing now owned by the City of Launceston community.
Visiting from his Melbourne studio, Jinks worked alongside the QVMAG team to finish and install the sculpture ahead of this anticipated public reveal.
Lead Curator Kellie Wells said QVMAG was honoured to introduce such a deeply resonant piece to the Tasmanian community.
“This exciting new work is the result of the strong relationship that has developed between Sam and QVMAG. Opportunities like this only come out of many conversations over time that build trust and explore ideas,” she said.
“People often fear spiders, but Sam’s monumental sculpture offers us something very beautiful to consider,” said Wells.
“Viewers will encounter a work rendered with exquisite detail. Evoking ancient feminine mythologies and suspended in space, this majestic mother spider weaves for us, and all her children, her stories of life, death and rebirth.”
This work was commissioned with donated funds from the Turner Ralph Bequest, 2025.
Sam Jinks || Mortal Reflections is open daily at the Art Gallery at Royal Park, 2 Wellington Street, Launceston, until March 2026, 10am–4pm. Entry is free.
Issued 13 November 2025.