The Kinetics of Thought 

NGV Melbourne Design Week May 2025 // Abbotsford Convent Mural Hall

Wanda Gillespie creates tactile contemporary wood sculptures that explore systems of knowledge, measurement, and metaphysical inquiry.

The Kinetics of Thought brings together Gillespie’s finely crafted abacus sculptures and a newly conceived Newton’s Cradle — developed during her residency at the Victorian Woodworkers Association — to examine how we quantify, categorise, and ascribe meaning. Originally a scientific instrument later popularised as an executive toy, Newton’s Cradle is reimagined through a ceremonial and devotional lens, offering a meditation on the unseen ripples of personal and global actions. The abacus sculptures similarly interrogate value systems, proposing alternative economic structures while unravelling the environmental consequences of our pursuits. Woven throughout is the presence of the prayer bead, shifting its function from numerical counter to vessel for contemplation and spiritual inquiry. These works act as poetic instruments, mapping the intersection of ritual, knowledge, and the unseen forces shaping our world.

National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne Design Week 2025 // The Kinetics of Thought