Peter Schipperheyn, Melbourne-based sculptor, gained his diploma in Fine Art from the Caulfield Institute of Technology in 1978. By that time, he had already lived in Rome and attended the Academia di Belle Arti. In 1979 he was awarded an Italian government scholarship to train as a marble sculptor in Carrara, and in 1980 exhibited the fruits of his year abroad at Australian Galleries, Melbourne. Since then he has travelled frequently between Australia and Italy to work and source materials. He has made a great many sculptures on commission, including Dame Joan Sutherland for the Sydney Town Hall in 1988, Sir Eric Westbrook for the National Gallery of Victoria in 1991 and the Eternal Flame for the Holocaust Museum Melbourne in 1998. He has also completed many works for cathedrals, churches, hotels and universities as well as private clients.
