UNEARTHED: Dr Betty Sargeant, Lorraine Brigdale and Justin Dwyer installing their work.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Shepparton Festival is only around the corner, and with it comes the eyecatching UNEARTHED.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
The black and white mural on the corner of Fryers and North streets was painted over the course of four days with the assistance of three Yorta Yorta artists.
The installation may seem a simple enough concept on first glance but that is exactly how the four contributing artists planned it.
Yorta Yorta artist Lorraine Brigdale, Mumbai-based new media artist Akshat Nauriyal and artistic duo PluginHUMAN, Dr Betty Sargeant and Justin Dwyer, are the faces behind UNEARTHED.
Mr Dwyer said the artwork, which was designed over Zoom, speaks to hidden things that have been revealed through collaboration.
“Collaboration takes time, time for the tendrils of thought and action to meet and join in a cohesive way,” he said.
Work in progress: UNEARTHED mural being painted in Shepparton, with assistance from Tammy-Lee Atkinson and Tahnee Day.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Each artist contributes elements of their own touch ‒ the multi-faceted mural is soon to have an overlay projection and the ability to lead audiences to a ‘microverse’ on their phones.
The mural depicts contemporary re-workings of Yorta Yorta shields by Ms Brigdale, intertwined with enlarged micrographs by PluginHUMAN.
The intricate micrographs seen in the art are microscopic images of wasp wings, layered with a computer’s interpretation of mathematical noise creating the circular patterns seen within the shields.
Ms Brigdale practices Indigenous art, with much of her content created from natural resources of her Country.
“The collaboration prioritises Aboriginal art as an integral part of the visual imagery, encouraging a conversation around cultural awareness, which is always this artist’s intention,” she said.
“The first time I saw Betty's idea of how it might fit together and saw something resembling this, it just blew my mind, because I was painting those shields and not going, what's the bigger story here? And there was a much bigger story.”
Viewers will be able to access a digital landscape, a ‘microverse’, by scanning a code that’s embedded in visuals of the UNEARTHED mural.
“We use the name ‘microverse’ as a way to describe a small independent digital landscape,” Dr Sargeant said.
“The UNEARTHED microverse reflects a kind of alternate universe, one that coexists side-by-side with our non-digital reality.”
During the Shepparton Festival opening weekend, March 18 to 20, the stark black and white background of the mural will be lit up with a projection of imagery, created using generative computer processes.
While the concept reads somewhat complex, the artists made accessibility for audiences a priority.
“The concept was based on how we can have a creative exchange that is really around just showing people aesthetics, ideas, culture, meaning, and taking them directly there,” Dr Sargeant said.
“Through every step of this project, these sleepless nights and these extra long days, if people will see it and go ‘ah, pretty simple’, then I will feel like I've done my job.”
The opening event is set for Friday, March 18. Beginning with a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony at 8pm, followed by the launch of the projections at 8.30pm.
16°C