Artwork information
- Title: Goods Stuff, 2025
- Artist: James Voller
- Location: Hercules Street Parklands Rest Stop
- Material: Concrete & photographic tiles
Artist Statement
Goods Stuff combines contemporary public art and photography to celebrate the industrial history of this rail corridor. This work translates photographs of decommissioned freight carriages from the NSW Train Museum into three-dimensional photographic sculptures. Through these pieces, the artwork highlights the significance of the Rozelle Line, freight trains, and carriages in Sydney’s growth and local manufacturing. By blending architecture, landscape, and social histories, Goods Stuff reflects the role of freight in shaping the city, creating a dialogue between community, contemporary art, and industrial heritage.
Artist Biography
James Voller’s practice combines contemporary public art installation and photography. His sculptures are concerned with architecture, landscape and social histories. Since moving to Australia from New Zealand, James has worked on a range of large-scale permanent and temporary artworks in a range of settings both urban and regional, nationally and internationally. James’s installations are site-responsive and combine the latest architectural materials with public art concepts. His recent works generate illusions, linking history, architecture and social identity. James is particularly interested in how history, growth and architecture impact cities’ identities and the people who live in them.
Voller holds postgraduate degrees from RMIT and Monash Universities. In the past five years, he has undertaken over twenty major temporary and permanent public works across Australia. Other career highlights include Streets of Gold at the Museum of London in 2012, and being selected for SWELL and Sculpture by the Sea exhibitions in 2023. In 2019, Voller founded Collide Public Art Initiative, supporting and expanding artists into the Public Art realm.
Video Credit: Samuel Phibbs