After Josh Kenworthy gently unveiled a statue of his grandmother Stasia Dabrowski - Canberra's soup kitchen lady - in Garema Place on Friday, he paused for just a second and touched the outstretched hand.
"That's her to a tee," he said, later.
"She always had her sleeves rolled up. It's exactly the same."
The bronze likeness of Stasia, who fed the hungry and lonely in Garema Place for decades, was commissioned by the ACT Government and created by Melbourne artist Louise Skacej.
The statue is to scale - Stasia was diminutive in stature but not attitude. In the work, she is standing on a stool. However, the bronze pot and cups next to her are larger-than-life, to illustrate her huge generosity, Ms Skacej said.
The statue's left hand is also outstretched, almost inviting passers-by to grab it; to say hello, again to Stasia.
The work is called "Hello, my wonderful", Stasia's signature greeting to one and all.
Stasia died in 2020 aged 94. She would have celebrated her 100th birthday on May 26 this year.
Born in 1926 in Poland, Stasia's family lost everything during World War II. When she arrived in Canberra in 1964 with her husband and young family, she remembered what it was like to do without.
Stasia started the mobile soup kitchen in 1979 in Garema Place, peeling and cooking 180 kilograms of vegetables on a Thursday night to then hand out to up to 500 people on a Friday evening.
"When I see a person who is hungry today I couldn't go without doing something about it," she told The Canberra Times in 1992.
She was Canberra's Citizen of the Year in 1996.
Mr Holdworthy, 37, a dad of five and Canberra plumber, was his grandmother's right-hand man in the soup kitchen and also lived with her during his younger years.
He continues her legacy, operating a soup kitchen from the Griffin Centre in Civic every Friday with Vinnies and other volunteers.
He was sure his grandmother would not have wanted any fuss made of her, let alone a statue, but he believed it was a worthy tribute.
"She was everything to me," he said.
"An unbelievable, selfless person who wanted to help everyone and take nothing for herself. She was amazing."
Ms Skacej said she used her own mother's cardigan on the model for the statue, the bunched up arms reflecting Stasia's physical and inner strength. The tactile-ness of the statue was also important. It's expected that passers-by will want to hug and touch the statue.
"Creating this work has been a deeply meaningful process. I wanted to capture not only Stasia's physical presence, but the warmth, and humanity that defined her life and the connections she built with so many people in Garema Place and across Canberra," she said.
The $183,700 piece was commissioned as part of the ACT government's election commitment to honour more significant women through public art, improving the gender representation within the territory's public art collection.
Alongside the statue of Stasia, the new Ngunnawal Dhawura artworks are a series of contemporary cultural pieces celebrating Ngunnawal Country. Featuring four illuminated light poles and a seat with laser-cut totems and stories, the artworks "embed cultural heritage into the space".
