Some of you will know Erica Vandeerzee’s famous statue of the Blue Angel in Federation Park, Kings Cross. The sculpture is dedicated to the 15 unidentified victims of serial killer Joseph ‘Cutter’ Ekin, the Darlinghurst Reaper, the Bastard from the Bush, who terrorised inner Sydney over three bloody months in 1909.

The Blue Angel bears the haunting inscription, ‘We shall ascend together’. It was carved by Vandeerzee in 1919 of unique Kimberley marble mined from an offshore reef.

Scorned by the churches, the Blue Angel has nonetheless become a guardian symbol of Sydney, patroness of the battler, the downtrodden, and the happy-go-lucky. Sometimes she is called Pacificus, the Guardian of the Harbour.

The Turn of Midnight Waters, Briefing 4: The Blue Angel