Artist Tony Albert has relied on home-grown beauty to add a splash of colour to Brisbane's Queens Wharf.
The Kuku Yalanji Girramay man has been producing art for the past decade. Whilst he specialises in photography, he also has a passion for video and installations.
“I am a conceptual artist, so when I know and understand kind of what I want to do, I will then pick the best medium to do it in,” said Albert.
“This spans into a lot of different things and then of course, having the honor of creating many public art displays such as at the War Memorial in Hyde Park for Aboriginal service men and women and we also just unveiled the Sydney football stadium, where I did the seating design” he said.
Inspiration for native floral display
Indigenous Artist Tony Albert's 'Inhabitant'
“I was investigating the souvenir industry and their use of Aboriginal imagery by non-Aboriginal people and this led me to her flowers which [were] iconic..." he said.
“I then started to replicate flowers and the imagery of native flowers. This led me to this incredible thought process about how iconic our nature is. Particularly that flowers have such a uniqueness in their shape and colors."
Queens Wharf international venue
The Star Entertainment Groups Interim CEO Geoff Hogg said 'Inhabitant' will be a striking welcome to the Queens Wharf Brisbane.
"Tony's beautiful floral artwork will offer our guests a path to learn more of the rich culture, history and stories of our states first inhabitants," Mr Hogg said.
Albert was asked about what he hopes people will take away from the 15-metre floating garden.
"Because it is an International venue at Queens Wharf, I feel that international viewers that really is just looking at the iconic Australian beauty that is our native Flora and Fauna," said Albert.
"There is also the undertones of the work that looks at the appropriation of culture, which people might not get at the first instance, but I think it is a work you can come back to and learn more about."
