The Embrace
Audio description
Text description
The Embrace
by Nastia Gladushchenko, 2021
Balmain Woolworths Carpark
Inner West Council acknowledges the traditional custodians of these lands, the Gadigal and Wangal people of the Eora Nation.
This contemporary botanical artwork is painted onto the back wall of a brick building in the Balmain Woolworths carpark. The wall measures 8.5 metres wide by 7 metres high. All but the top quarter is painted dark glossy blue, making a dark background for the mural with an undulating top like rolling hills. A riot of plants covers the mural. On the left side three thin white plants push up towards the top over a large irregular orange shape. An extended pale orange leaf shaped like a single palm frond stretches diagonally across the mural from bottom left to top right. Its irregularly sized fingers stick out at different angles. The central base of the mural is filled with a large tan coloured flower with three rounded petals from the centre of which rises a line of wavy stamens. To the right is a thin white branching tree and the bottom right corner is filled with shrubs in different shades of blue and turquoise. Above them sits the head of a palm tree painted pale blue.
The mural is smoothly painted in contrasting but muted colours. The forms are gently rounded and where the different plants overlap each other the colour changes slightly giving the whole work an integrated feeling of lushness and movement.
The space in front of the mural is a designated disabled parking space with a sign at each side.
Down near the bottom left corner is painted a small ginger cat casually stretching and looking up as if to enjoy the luxurious vegetation.
This artwork was commissioned by Inner West Council through Perfect Match, a program matching artists with community to collaboratively produce site specific street art.
Audio description written by Vision Australia, and voiced by Nas Campanella.