BACK to a breathing/art space again today as one night out of town cuts into Brisbane exploration time (although I have discovered a beautiful Japanese garden on the USQ campus in Toowoomba that’s well worth the visit.)

Near the entrance to the Pig ‘N’ Whistle on Eagle Street, is a statue of two sisters that is so brilliant you need to watch it for a while to make sure they are not actually moving.

It is called Big Sister and is by the American  John Seward Johnson Jnr  (who, incidentally, is the grandson of Mr Robert Johnson as in Johnson & Johnson products).

He specialises in life-size cast bronze statues of everyday  people doing everyday things and this is a particularly fine example of his style as the big sister kneels to tie the little girl’s shoelace, her skirt folding on to the ground around her.

It is so beautifully crafted you need to stop and have a really good stare to take it all in.

There’s not a lot to give away  how it ended up in Brisbane, although there is an accompanying plaque saying it was sited by Sculpture Placement, Washington DC, which could refer to the Washington Sculpture Centre that promotes artistic exchange with other parts of the world.

There is also a Johnson statue in Australia Square in Sydney, called Waiting, which is of a businessman sitting on a bench reading a newspaper which has a similar explanation,  indicating they arrived as part of the same program.