Steven Holland: commemorating military working dogs

Key facts

Documented artist

Steven Holland [source]

Commission discussed

Military-working-dog memorial, 2019 [source]

Artwork

Circling into sleep [source]

A documented commission

The Memorial’s interview with Holland describes a 2019 commission for a memorial honouring military working dogs and their handlers, following his earlier Animals in war memorial. This institutional source connects the sculptor to the working-dog subject directly. Keep the commission and artwork dates distinct from the military service periods being commemorated.

The making process

The Memorial describes the sculpture’s spiral of bronze paw prints and explains that Explosive Detection Dog Billie and her handler assisted in making them. This is a specific account of artistic production, not a training instruction. The work uses an ordinary canine settling movement as a commemorative form, connecting animal presence with remembrance without functioning as a literal service diagram.

Artist and subject are separate records

Holland’s authorship of the memorial does not make him the source for every dog’s operational biography. For a named animal, follow the institutional service account and collection evidence. Likewise, distinguish photographs of the finished sculpture from the sculpture itself and preserve the photographer’s credit as well as the artist’s.

Use the institutional record

Read the Memorial’s artist interview alongside its object record and related history. This profile focuses on the documented creative connection and does not duplicate the full artwork guide or imply a current commission service. No sculpture photographs are copied here. For reproduction, confirm the rights for the actual image and use the correct artist, title and collection attribution.

Common questions

Sources & further reading

References for this guide. Rules and services can change; check the responsible organisation for current details.

• Australian War Memorial: Interview with Steven Holland (opens in a new tab)
• Australian War Memorial: Working-dog memorial announcement (opens in a new tab)

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