It is a scorching hot day and a five-metre wide 'egg' is frying on the dazzling white sands of Tamarama, Sydney's most glamorous beach. Close by, an enormous deckchair dwarfs onlookers, and a pair of flip-flops the size of table-tops have been tossed casually to one side.
A miniature Volkswagen Kombi van, made from brightly coloured ceramic tiles and standing only waist high, sits on a grassy knoll above the bay. Tampering with the laws of perspective is just one of the themes of this year's Sculpture by the Sea, a free outdoor exhibition that combines one of Sydney's finest walks with cutting-edge art.
More than 100 sculptures have been positioned along the 2km coastal path linking Tamarama with Bondi Beach, a 15-minute drive from the city centre. The event has attracted sculptors from across Australia as well as 13 other countries, including India, Iceland, Mongolia, the United States and Japan. The art works, in wood, stone, resin and metal, enliven what is already a spectacular walk.
A wave-shaped structure made of scaffolding poles arches over a sandstone cliff-top. Giant stone heads with Buddha-like faces and Easter Island eyes gaze out to sea. There is humour in many of the works. A giant spanner painted with the US flag - 'the star-bangled spanner' - takes a swipe at what the artist sees as Washington's meddling in world affairs.
A suburban-looking fence contains hidden speakers at both ends, which relay a continuous stream of eavesdropped gossip between a group of well-heeled Sydney ladies-who-lunch.
Sculpture by the Sea began nine years ago as the brainchild of a former lawyer, David Handley, who was inspired by an outdoor sculpture park set amid 13th-century ruins in Prague.