As part of the College's beautification project, the Visual Art department reached out to one of Brisbane's most well-known and highly sought after muralists, Ash Taylor, to create a mural on the side of the Art building next to the urban vertical farm.
The brief was to capture the native flora currently growing around the college, connecting in with the philosophy of the Barrambin farm, while also tying in with the strong culture of street art and urban artwork currently experiencing a surge around Brisbane as we lead into the 2032 Olympic games.
Ash's practice started as designer and illustrator, mainly working with native flora and elements of nature, however during a trip to South America, Ash turned her hand to mural work and has since worked on many murals around Brisbane including West End, Lutwyche, Nundah and Ipswich.
Ash started the design by taking a walk around the college with our gardner Daniel, who has expert knowledge of all of the native plants currently growing on site and guided Ash with a photographic documentation of the tour. In the end Ash selected the blue quandong, Brachyciton aciferola, Golden Penda and fruits, Parsonsia staminea, Grivillea, Cotton Beetle and the Native Bee.
The illustration perfectly captured the essence of flora, fauna and our passion for the creative arts. Ash was kind enough to work with our Yr 9 students who are currently studying Urban Art, sharing her process and practice with all three classes. Even the KG Street Crew assisted and learned valuable skills in site assessment, WHS and the financial and organizational logistics that go into a large scale job like this.
We were very fortunate to work with Ash and witness her practice and welcome her into our Art family for the first few weeks of Term 2. We are left with an incredible artwork that will be used to frame our educational breakout space for our art rooms and the farm. Thanks Ash for your amazing insight into the culture of KG!