William Ricketts Sanctuary, Victoria Australia

On the outskirts of Melbourne, hidden beneath the towering Mountain Ash and luxuriant tree ferns of the Dandenong Ranges, lies one of Victoria’s most unusual cultural landscapes. William Ricketts Sanctuary is at once an open-air gallery, a forest retreat, and a deeply personal expression of one artist’s reverence for the natural world.

The sanctuary occupies a fern-filled hillside on the traditional Country of the Wurundjeri People. Its winding paths lead visitors through a cool, shadowy landscape where human faces, animals, and symbolic figures appear to emerge from tree trunks, moss-covered rocks, and the earth itself. The sculptures do not simply stand within the forest; they seem to belong to it.

William Ricketts was born in Richmond, Melbourne, in 1898. A self-taught potter and sculptor, he acquired land near Mount Dandenong during the 1930s and gradually transformed it into what he called his “Forest of Love.” He settled there permanently in 1934 and devoted much of the rest of his life to creating a place where art, spirituality and nature could exist as one.

The sanctuary opened to the public in 1964, and Ricketts continued living and working there until his death in 1993, at the age of 94.

Scattered throughout the sanctuary are 92 kiln-fired clay sculptures, many partially concealed by ferns and native vegetation. The works were fired at temperatures of approximately 1,200 degrees Celsius before being carefully positioned among rocks, trees, pools and flowing water. The changing forest light, rain, moss, and gradual weathering of the clay have all become part of their character.

Among the sculptures are solemn faces, protective maternal figures, native animals, and larger compositions exploring birth, death, renewal, and humanity’s relationship with the Earth. Water flowing across some works represents the continuing essence of life.

Ricketts’s belief that humanity is inseparable from nature is summarised in his often-quoted words:

Life is Love. All you to all me, for being part of nature, we are all brothers to the birds and trees.

William Ricketts.

From 1949 to 1960, Ricketts spent periods in Central Australia, where he encountered Pitjantjatjara and Arrernte people. These experiences strongly influenced his artistic and spiritual ideas, and Aboriginal figures became central to the sanctuary. He admired what he understood as their connection to Country and contrasted it with the destructive treatment of Australian forests, wildlife and landscapes by European settlers.

Viewed today, however, this aspect of the sanctuary requires thoughtful consideration. The sculptures are not Aboriginal art, but the interpretations of a non-Indigenous artist. Although Ricketts expressed respect for Aboriginal people and opposed racism and environmental destruction, some of his representations reflect the romanticised and generalised attitudes of his era.

Visitors can acknowledge the sincerity of his intentions while also recognising the limitations of presenting diverse Aboriginal cultures through a single outsider’s spiritual vision. The sanctuary can therefore inspire admiration and discomfort simultaneously, an important complexity rather than a reason to disregard the site altogether.

The sanctuary’s environmental message remains powerful. Land clearing, habitat destruction, and the killing of native animals distressed Ricketts. Works such as ‘Australia Crucified’ express his grief over the destruction of the surrounding forests and his conviction that humanity ultimately harms itself when it exploits the natural world.

The forest setting gives the sanctuary much of its emotional force. Meandering beneath Mountain Ash trees and through green fern gullies, visitors encounter the sculptures gradually. A face may suddenly become visible within a darkened rock wall; a figure may appear to grow from a tree; another may look silently across a pool.

The experience encourages stillness, observation, and contemplation rather than hurried sightseeing. It is easy to understand why Ricketts regarded his creation not merely as a sculpture garden, but as a sanctuary.

In June 2021, a violent storm caused extensive damage throughout the Dandenong Ranges. Large fallen trees destroyed or damaged sculptures, buildings, pathways, and handrails within the sanctuary. Because of the scale of the destruction and the artistic and cultural significance of the works, recovery has been slow and complex. At the time of writing, the sanctuary remains temporarily closed, with no confirmed reopening date.

Despite its contradictions, William Ricketts Sanctuary remains an extraordinary artistic creation. It asks us to look more closely at the forest, to question humanity’s belief in its separation from nature, and to consider the consequences of treating the Earth merely as a resource.

Among the ferns and soaring trees, Ricketts’s silent figures leave us with a gentle but enduring reminder: we are not masters of the living world, but participants within it.

The complete William Ricketts Sanctuary image gallery.

All Images, Text and Content Are Copyright Steven Sklifas.