Artist Statement –

‘The artwork draws inspiration from the flora and fauna native to the area. The design reflects the surrounding bushland and farming areas of the Goulburn area, creating a unique contrast of shapes and colours that explores the Australian landscape. The mountainous backdrop of the area is also depicted. I wanted to show the landscape in the magic hours of dusk which always has an enchanted feel.

The Goulburn landscape is surrounded by beautiful rolling hills dotted with old farm houses and sprinkled with Silver Wattle bushes in bloom.

I wanted to incorporate the iconic Black Cockatoo's of the area into the mural. They can always be seen gliding through the landscape with the mountains in the background. Along with the Black Cockatoos, the River Red Gums are also iconic to the area. The large ghostly trees can be found along the riverbanks and are one of Australia's most uniquely shaped eucalypts.

 In my work I explore human connection to place throughout my murals.

My current practice explores the use of colour and methods of abstraction to depict the emotional nostalgia that is revived from a personal connection to place. My artwork shows key locations that are important to the area as well as the inclusion of flora and fauna significant to Goulburn and the surrounding countryside. I have a personal connection to the area as a holiday destination to visit family when I was younger. It was also a key resting point on drives down to the snow. I loved driving through the landscape at dusk looking out the window and watching all the wildlife as the sun set.

The sharp line work and abstract shapes throughout the design will wrap around all surfaces almost creating a sculptural feel.

My favourite part of any mural project is immersing myself within the community and giving back by creating a mural that they can enjoy for years to come.’ – Helen Proctor 2023

Heath Nock is a contemporary painter and tattoo artist. Growing up on the carnival circuit, his father was a showman, and his uncle worked as a clown with a practice in still life painting. Nock travelled across regional Australia with exposure to the bright, bold subculture of carnival life. This influenced Nock’s aesthetic sensibility to include confidant lines, a rich sense of texture, implied movement, and above all an intermingling of disparate objects and associations.

Nock exhibited a new body of work at Goulburn Regional Art Gallery in 2022 that combined the natural landscape of Nock’s then-locale of Tallong with objects and ornaments from popular culture. Subsequently, the artist was commissioned by Goulburn Mulwaree Council to create a public artwork which the artist titled Bush fires, 2022. Nock created a work inspired by his experience of the bushfires in 2019-20, which had come dangerously close to the artists’ Tallong property. During this time, Nock went from being a resident in the area to a valued member of the community. In this work, Nock’s aim was to create a vivid and playful image which drew in people of all ages which also touched on his personal experience of the natural disaster.

Sydney based sculptor Alex Seton was raised close to Goulburn in a remote region. He often speaks to a childhood that was rich with experiences of being in the landscape.

Alex Seton’s work ‘The Passage’ 2017 is multifaceted object. Featured in Seton’s stop motion video work ‘Left turn at Albuquerque’ 2017, the large limestone structure is constructed and positioned with the intention of being carved into – the audience perceiving the artist as tunnelling Bugs Bunny-style through a solid wall.  Exhibited for the first time as part of Seton’s exhibition ‘The Great Escape’, 2020, the work formed a three-dimensional link to the video work in which it featured, taking on the status of both a theatrical prop, and standing alone as a sculptural piece. The limestone from which ‘The Passage’ not only forms a means-to-an-end within a video work of Seton’s, but is also a nod to the material from which marble is directly related. The sections in the material that the artist has carved with pneumatic hammer and chisel reveal a condensed plethora of calcium-rich seashells – the inorganic structure that, through the intense heat and pressure of tectonic plate shifting over millennia, condenses and hardens to become marble.

Sydney based sculptor  Alex Seton was raised close to Goulburn in a remote region. He often speaks to a childhood that was rich with experiences of being in the landscape.  

The genesis of this work was a pair of perfect skipping stones, found on the shore of the lake surrounding the artist's childhood home close to the Wombeyan Caves, an incredible natural landmark in our region.

Commissioned as part of 'The Great Escape', Seton's first major solo exhibition at the Gallery, these works formed a crucial and personal moment in the exhibition and too, the artist's practice. Speaking to his connection to place and memory, 'Anything will bounce if you throw it hard enough...' confirms Seton as Australia's leading marble sculptor. These are gentle works that encourage us to consider our relationship to natural, ancient materials as well as our relationship to the landscape today.

Seton says, 'my three brothers and I used to spend hours at play in the bush, finding perfect quartz crystals in the dirt and making things from driftwood and clay from the creek.  This was another of thoses activities that seems like amusement during boredom, but it is in fact that close observation of materials that would become a lifetime fascination'.

This is work made about our region, for our region by an artist that was inspired by this locale in his earliest and most impressionable years. The mid point of the work has been rotated  to point towards Taralga as a gensture of their origin and the artist's early home.

Local artist, Michael Thomson was inspired by the fact the town of Marulan uniquely sits on the Meridian 150 east. This is the line of longitude on which Australian Eastern Standard Time is determined. On this line every equinox, day and night are exactly 12 hours long.

Thomson has employed the visual tool of 3d illusion, in his transformation of the amenities block, to create a glass aquarium and nocturnal terrarium. The glass aquarium housing a whale, the nocturnal terrarium  a pair of possums. The Meridian 150 east features as a painted line, a marker between the two contrasting subjects representing the diversity of life on our planet and day and night.

Thomson wanted to create a vibrant, playful mural to engage children and adults alike and provide an opportunity for fun. The mural is educational and a celebration of the earth and of Marulan's unique location upon the Meridian 150 east.

Todd Robinson creates works that melt the very ideas of form and gravity. Drooping, swaying and bending, his most recent sculptural installations bring unexpected possibilities into view through use of every day infrastructure, palettes, rope and timbers against more whimsical objects. The balloon has appeared many times in his work and is an ongoing investigation.

For Goulburn, Robinson has really tested the capacity of how this shape can appear and offers us 'a fiction that could almost, possibly happen but not quite'. Robinson is an awarded artist who works across sculpture, video, installation and fashion.

Southern Highlands based David Ball’s sculpture plays with shapes and themes found in nature to express the relationship between the landscape and the human condition. ‘Fracture’ incorporates a seemingly simplistic exterior with a more complex inner circular form. The rhythmic but disrupted interior has a strong geologically inspired architecture. The interior’s haphazard or chaotic-seeming construction mimics patterns found in nature such as a construction of rocks or a river bed. 

‘Fracture’ is one of a series of monumental works by Ball, the second of which won the 2017 Sculpture by the Sea. There’s a sense of wonder that creates a gravity and pulls people in to interact, to walk through, under, around and to look skyward. They are of nature from the molecular to the cosmological, the geological to the anthropological.

Local artist, Michael Thomson has been a regular visitor to the Civic Centre building for over twenty five years. Thomson has admired Phillip Cox’s contemporary architectural design amongst the historic setting of Goulburn’s beautiful buildings. Upon viewing the building with intentions of enhancing its façade, Thomson was struck by the treelike nature of the columns supporting the roof structure. Living on a property with many native trees, Thomson’s work is inspired by the exquisite colours exhibited by the bark shedding process. The work is a softened, welcoming entrance to the building; maintaining the integrity of the original design and incorporating a local flavour.

A Canberra based collaborative duo – James Lieutenant and Kate Vassallo conceptualised ‘Lilac Walk’ to be immersive and uplifting. The work takes its palette from the heritage surrounds of the site and Goulburn more generally, as well as contrast colours to form a dialogue about the present. The work has been influenced by the moniker ‘Lilac City’ and designed to draw interest into the laneway from those passing by. The work took several weeks to complete and was painted entirely by hand brushes. Despite the scale of the work, the artist’s stayed true to their usual techniques of install and design. Lieutenant and Vassallo have completed site specific commissions in Sydney and Canberra.

Beastman has completed numerous public art projects across Australia and has a beautifully resolved practice. His work is inspired by natural formations in the land and waterways. ‘Conflux’ integrates a palette into the mural relevant to the surrounding visuals in the laneway. Beastman's work is bold, graphic and uses both abstract and representational elements. In designing this work the artist thought about the manmade and natural elements of Goulburn including the Wollondilly River.

Orton was selected as one of three artists for the Enhancing the CBD Power Boxes project. The project involved the wrapping of five Essential Energy boxes in the Goulburn CBD in images of artworks that reflect Goulburn life.

Orton was selected as one of three artists for the Enhancing the CBD Power Boxes project. The project involved the wrapping of five Essential Energy boxes in the Goulburn CBD in images of artworks that reflect Goulburn life.

Lynne Flemons is a Goulburn based artist who primarily works in printmaking and painting. Inspired by the landscape, Flemon's work hints not only at what is there but also of the artists own experience of place. Flemon's was selected as one of three artists for the Enhancing the CBD Power Boxes project. The project involved the wrapping of five Essential Energy boxes in the Goulburn CBD in images of artworks that reflect Goulburn life.

Virginia Arregui is a Southern Highlands based artist who works in ceramics. Her work is inspired by traditional European decorative ceramic tiling and features hand painted town scenes in bright attractive colours. Arregui was selected as one of three artists for the Enhancing the CBD Power Boxes project. The project involved the wrapping of five Essential Energy boxes in the Goulburn CBD in images of artworks that reflect Goulburn life.

Virginia Arregui is a Southern Highlands based artist who works in ceramics. Her work is inspired by traditional European decorative ceramic tiling and features hand painted town scenes in bright attractive colours. Arregui was selected as one of three artists for the Enhancing the CBD Power Boxes project. The project involved the wrapping of five Essential Energy boxes in the Goulburn CBD in images of artworks that reflect Goulburn life.

Kistler pays homage to Caroline Chisholm by stating that “the imagery is inspired by the volume of writing Caroline engaged in, helping to assure potential British emigrants that there would be a place for them in Australia. In the design, Caroline sits in the middle at her desk as the correspondence she’s writing flies off her desk and crashes into the boats coming from Britain. On the right side of the mural I’ve depicted an historical view of the Goulburn landscape complete with grazing merinos.” Kistler is an immigrant himself and with immigration issues frequently in the news he found the theme of Caroline Chisholm’s life and work both inspiring and timely.

‘Hold Your Head Up’ is a bronze sculpture that has a powerful and important message. It is more than a thinker on two legs taking on the burden of a head full of dreams; it’s an ode to staying positive and confident with a healthy dose of imagination. This character seems as gentle and awkward as it is strong and poised. When faced with the work, you’ll likely tilt your head up and stand a bit taller. ‘Hold Your Head Up’ is a poignant reminder to literally ‘hold your head up’. Luke Chiswell is a mixed-media artist based between Collector and New York City.

Goulburn railway station is home to the Goulburn Icons Art Project; a series of large photographic prints depicting iconic sites and landmarks throughout the city. Stirling’s photographic installation brings colour to the heritage platform of the Railway station and marks the arrival point in Goulburn beautifully. Sites depicted by the Icons Project include Rocky Hill War Memorial, Goulburn Courthouse, the Historic Waterworks, the Post Office and many more. Mim Stirling is based in the Southern Highlands.

Amanda Stuart is a Canberra based visual artist, lecturer and alongside her visual arts PhD she holds a Bachelor of Science (Land Management). Her works make reference to the social, cultural, ethical and political difficulties surrounding human relations to unwanted animals, particularly introduced species. ‘Nil Tenure’ is a pack of wild dogs sculptured in bronze and moving through the landscape. The title of the work, Nil Tenure, is a term used in wild dog management strategies in southeast Australia. Stuart says 'it serves as a bitter metaphor for the complex human/canine relations typical to regional Australia- for example the sheep farmer is both reliant upon the working dog to manage their stock- but also at times can be at the mercy of wild dog predations.’

These two large dog installations add colour, vibrancy and a point of difference to the southern entrance to Auburn Street

The colourful 'spirit' mural pattern was painted on one of the laneway wall surfaces by Goulburn youth in workshops with Jason Wing in January 2015. Jason Wing is Sydney-based and began as a street artist who has since expanded his practice to incorporate photo media, installation and painting. His dual heritage, being both Chinese and Aboriginal is increasingly addressed within his work.

‘Tree Spirits’, 2015 is located in the charming Russell Lane. By day, this quaint laneway is animated by three suspended Perspex figures. By night the Tree Spirit figures come alive, illuminating the lane with an otherwordly glow of light, inviting visitors to explore the work en route to and from Lilac City Cinema. The half-human, half-spirit figures represent our past, present and future ancestors. The figures are inspired by Aboriginal and Chinese heritage but do not preclude other cultures. 

The work of Light Artist and Designer Emrah Baki Ulas “Luminous Merinos” is a playful homage to Goulburn’s wool industry. Ulas’s work is an interpretative light-installation inspired by an exquisite series of charcoal drawings by local artist, sheep farmer and master of the line, Jenny Bell. Bell has captured the nuances and quirkiness of the character of the sheep perfectly and minimalistically, using just a few gestures.

In consultation with Bell, Ulas has studied the series and composed Luminous Merinos selecting certain figures from Bell’s work, interpreting and collating them. Ulas hand-etched the composition onto acrylic and brought them to light using a rare edge-lighting technique. Luminous Merinos illuminate the Gallery’s south-east façade. The installation can best be viewed after dark, travelling along Bourke Street.

Mike MacGregor is a local artist who is nationally recognised for his incredibly ambitious and detailed metal work. He uses recycled materials, forging parts for his works that span the tiny and enormous in scale. His work is regularly exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea. ‘New Start’ is a magnificent addition to the Civic building end of the Caroline Chisholm Court. This work can be accessed via Bourke Street and is a breathtaking, eight metres high!

Adrina Khobane is an indigenous artist who works with Artlandish. The Bogong sculpture is a work made up of 3 rusted steel panels that stand 3 metres high featuring Bogong moth motifs. The work can be best viewed when visiting the Gallery, approaching from the Bourke Street entrance.

Will Coles is well known for his contemporary sculptures that are defiant yet accessible readings on street art which may unsettle as well as surprise and delight. Resonating strongly with ideas of journey and discovery, ‘Memories and Burden’ sit outside the historic Goulburn Railway station entrance where they are an absurdly wonderful distraction for those coming and going. The works reflect the artist's concerns with the amount of junk generated by today's society and whether we will ever produce anything worth 'digging up' in the future.

Local artists Andrew Townsend and Suzie Bleach work collaboratively in their studio-workshop at Braidwood NSW. They create assemblages of welded and forged steel incorporating salvaged materials and objects in the form of familiar animal subjects. ‘Street Theatre’ is a sculpture of steel cut-out figures that are mounted atop posts, so that passing motorists and pedestrians see the procession of silhouetted figures against the big Goulburn sky. The figures are ‘on the move’ and dynamic, with wind activated components providing a kinetic element with the sculpture that frequently changes with the variances of Goulburn weather. Parked just outside the popular Astor Hotel.

 ‘The Lake’ is a work that references voices of a recent past symbolised by fence posts that criss-cross the Lake. G W Bot describes them: “Many are old and withered now, fragile and needing care. They stand as if they are ancient peoples whose identity has become part of the Lake, as if their shapes are writing an ancient language of the Lake. They speak of a vastness, timelessness, otherworldliness.” G W Bot has expressed this visual language in bronze, an amalgam of metals within the ancient earth. Stretching across space, the fence line opens at a gate, opening perhaps into the Lake, or perhaps it is “a gateway to an understanding of the vastness, the fragility, power and beauty of this land. Or perhaps it is an exit to another reality, another world beyond. Most of us pass by this language, looking for another, for something else.” G W Bot is a Canberra based artist who works primarily in printmaking. Her works are highly acclaimed and are featured in many major public collections including National Gallery of Australia and Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

'I don't know if this person is coming or going, happy or sad. All I know is that everyone carries their own baggage...And some sing about it.' Bill Dorman.

Local artist Bill Dorman has over 30 years teaching experience and often collaborates with other artists. Dorman's works range from political or social commentary to functional or whimsical. Dorman's materials are often at the end of their life, salvaged from recycling yards and are occasionally worked with new materials. He is inspired to 'transform objects and raw materials into works to love, use, make you cry, make you think or to just give you a laugh.'

‘Ma baby gone an left me’ is based on Australian blues harmonica player Chris Wilson, who was the featured musician at the Australian Blues Music Festival in 2005. This work was the fifth public artwork commissioned for the Blues Hall of Fame project.

Empire Lane is a busy laneway for foot traffic located in the heart of Goulburn's CBD. This mural youth project involved workshops for young people with Braidwood based artist, Andrew Townsend. Under the guidance of Townsend, the young artists designed and completed a painting, which were then affixed to the walls of the laneway. The murals add colour and vibrancy to a laneway that once was dark and dull. This project was funded by the Regional Arts Fund of the Commonwealth Government.

‘Blue Notes’, created by local artists Kirstie and Dale Chalker. Kirstie has several works installed throughout Goulburn and here she has been commissioned to make a work relevant to the famous and much loved Blues Festival held in Goulburn each year.

Brooke Maurice is a local sculptor represented in many private collections in Britain, USA and Australia. ‘The Singer’ is a stylised figure with a trumpet and brings figurative works in to the sculpture park down at the VIC. The public artwork was the third commissioned for the Blues Hall of Fame project in 2001 and really adds a sense of movement and personality to Goulburn’s VIC.

‘Re-Cycled’ is located at the Waste Recovery Centre in Goulburn. Created by local artist Kirstie Chalker, this work is made entirely using discarded materials. The transformation of insignificant junk into a valued object is one that inspires much of Chalker's practice. Kirstie Chalker is based near Taralga NSW and works primarily in sculpture and installation. Her work is largely concerned with rural and environmental issues and she has several public works on display around Goulburn.

‘Ibis’ is a quirky sculpture of the much revered and reviled bird, by local artist Fran Ifould. Ifould, who usually works primarily in printmaking, focuses on the theme of landscape where she explores issues of land ownership. She is keenly interested in the way the spirit of a landscape matches her own spirit, giving her a pathway to connect with the landform. Located at the Goulburn Waste Recovery Centre, Sinclair Street, Ibis is formed from recycled metal and stands proudly as a symbol of survival. 

Canberra based artists Philip Nizette and Jennifer Jones comprise Wellspring Environmental Arts and Design. ‘Passing Parade’ is a whimsical public artwork located on the roundabout at the intersection of Bradley and Auburn Streets. The work is a light hearted depiction of Goulburn as Australia's first inland city, its rural character and of transportation. The work features four freestanding sculptural elements, using animals to represent modes of transport used throughout Goulburn's history. As one drives around the roundabout, they will be delighted with the view of cartoons of a horse and rider, cow and duck, cycling kangaroo, and car. The duo have decades of experience between them.

‘Traces of Traffic’ is a montage of tiles created by local artist Kirstie Chalker. Using cement and ochre, Chalker was inspired by different forms of transport and the imprints that are left behind. The public artwork comprises a selection of footpath tiles best viewed when walking along the west side of Auburn Street, between Clinton and Verner Streets. Kirstie Chalker is based near Taralga NSW and works primarily in sculpture and installation. Her work is largely concerned with rural and environmental issues.

Local artists Andrew Townsend and Suzie Bleach work collaboratively in their studio in Braidwood. The mosaics that adorn the footpath in Empire Lane are the result of a series of workshops for young people, facilitated by the artists. Townsend and Bleach, through teaching, adapted a range of designs crafted through the workshops. There are two components- a cross form and a zigzag form. Three discrete components by young people can be viewed further up the lane.

Marilyn Puschak (1964 - 2009) drew from a range of sources for ‘3 Poles’, citing Goulburn’s colonial past, local Aboriginal communities as well as the present day city as inspiration. The work encompasses a variety of materials to build an interesting and tactile surface across the three objects and each feature hand-stencils by members of the local Aboriginal community. Puschak uses the variation in material and surface as a way of creating deeper meaning across her referenced sources. These works can be viewed ‘in the round’ and are beautifully detailed with local imagery, scenes and text such as the gates from the old courthouse, quotes from ‘My Brilliant Career’ by Miles Franklin and aboriginal artefacts.

 ‘The Piano’ is a work by local artist Sebastian Meijbaum (1946 - 2014) who was a graduate of the ANU. Meijbaum is represtented in many collections including Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, The McClelland Sculpture Park as well as other public and private collections. The Piano was the second public artwork sought for the Blues Hall of Fame project that began in 2001.  Meijbaum has a large scale work, ‘The Shearing Shed’ on display at the façade of the Civic Centre, 184 Bourke Street.

 ‘The Guitar’ was created by local artist and farmer Ashley Hunt. Located at the front of the Visitor Information Centre, the work is an up scaled neck and headstock of a guitar. The work is installed as a part of a sculpture park project  at the VIC where several local artists have created a series of wonderful works to celebrate the long standing Blues Festival held annually in Goulburn. ‘The Guitar’ was the first public artwork commissioned for the Blues Hall of Fame project in 2001.

Fran Ifould created this epic mural in 1999 and it remains visible from Sydney Road today. She is a member of the local group, the Southern Highlands Printmakers and has a practice centred on the theme of landscape where she explores issues of land ownership, defined by possession, or stewardship. She is keenly interested in the way the spirit of a landscape matches her own spirit, giving her a pathway to connect with the landform and land use from an attitude of kinship with the land itself.

The Shearing Shed references Goulburn's pastoral history as a major wool producing region. Using steel, local artist Sebastian Meijbaum (1946-2014) created a one point perspective into a shearing shed. The work is permanently installed onto the wall of the Civic Centre, appropriate considering the building was designed to reflect rural architecture. The public artwork is best viewed when travelling north along Bourke Street.