The Story of Michael Gow - By Snowy Mountains Magazine
Lake Light Sculpture Vision
When a committee was formed in winter 2001 to plan the Jindabyne Easter Fun Festival (JEFF), sculpture was just one segment of the four-day festival. Easter in Jindabyne was not busy in those years, and the town needed something to attract visitors.
In early 2002, Michael Gow was recruited as creative director solely for the sculpture event. His partner, Gabrielle Le Platrier, would be the exhibition manager. Michael was a freestyle skier, a creative type and one of the partners who started the Kaotic ski clothing brand.
Michael’s vision of incorporating the lake with light and sculpture evolved to what we now call Lake Light Sculpture.
In describing the event name, Lakes Light Sculpture, he said it was all about layers.
Lakes – we are the river, to the lake, to the sea. Lights – we bring light. Sculpture – we chose to expose the light through form and light.
In early 2026, Michael expressed enthusiasm as he reflected on the beginning. He said he remembered presenting an idea to the committee similar in style to Sculpture By The Sea in Sydney.
“It would be on our lake foreshore, but the difference would be that the criteria of illumination would be a part of it, and that would give us two shows, daytime and nighttime, and it had never been done before. This was before Vivid,” said Michael.
Michael wanted to run cable beneath the rocks, install sculptures on the foreshore, and make the whole event theatrical.
“It would be a brilliant landscape for sculpture because it is so raw, the whole lake foreshore is quite an interesting foreshore. But you throw form and sculpture on it, and we are going to create a show.”
“We tripled the trade in Jindabyne during the time of the festival. It was great for the town.”
There were 21 entries in the 2002 Lakes Light Sculpture.
Admitting he didn’t do anything by halves, Michael created a formal dress occasion to open the sculpture festival, and he would secure Michael Le Grand from Canberra University to judge the sculptures.
There would be scroll invitations for the cocktail event, and the initial feedback from people in Jindabyne was that the occasion was too formal, which worried Michael, as he had invested in the catering.
“Phone call after phone call, people wanted in all of a sudden. It got to a point I was knocking people back. They were saying, ‘don’t you know who I am’, and I said, yeah, you’re late.”
Creativity was at its theatrical best for the whole occasion, with a gathering at the Strzelecki statue.
“I started with poetry and everyone was dressed to the nines. I stood there with my daughter, Dakota, and the Celtic band led about 200 people meandering down the track, with all the sculptures lit up. For me, it was fantastic, I will never forget it.”
“It was brilliant to be able to bring people an experience that would shock them out of the mundane.
“I remember being so relieved that in the end, Jindabyne embraced an idea on such a beautiful night that was bold and at first not quite understood. But as Dakota and I stood at the statue in the park and led the night with welcoming prose, and the lights came on, and the band led the way, I knew this would become an event that would be loved and owned by many.
“I am truly moved that it continues to exhibit the power and healing that art can bring, especially when placed amongst the Snowy Mountains backdrop.”
Michael and Gabrielle were involved in 2002 and 2003 before moving to Sydney. Michael’s daughter Dakota, seven years old at the time, won the first people's choice award with her sculpture ‘Snakey’.
He said he was proud to have “planted the seed and watered it for two years and now see it as a tree”.
-Steve Cuff, Snowy Mountains Magazine
