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Artist Series by Urban Logistics Co.
Intent on bringing art to the forefront of public space, Urban Logistics Co. has partnered with emerging First Nations artist Tiarna Herczeg to launch the Artist Series, an initiative that seeks to foster diversity and provide public amenity while breathing new life into the company’s industrial holdings.
The artwork was commissioned as part of the repositioning of an Urban Logistics Co. industrial estate in the southern Sydney suburb of Rockdale. The wider Artist Series is a strategy that encompasses partnerships with Australian creatives nationwide to curate art across the company’s urban industrial portfolio.
The first partnership is with Tiarna, a Kuku Yalanji and Hungarian artist. Her intuitive artistic process seeks to celebrate Country by depicting her own cultural identity, and this approach has been championed in the piece, which features organic, gestural brushstrokes and vibrant colours.
Tiarna says that creating the bold, large-scale mural allowed for plenty of creative expression to highlight the richness and vitality of Country. “My works are abstract landscapes and I always encourage my audience to try and imagine flying over the land, looking down. They resemble maps, different parts of the land meeting each other.”
“My works are abstract landscapes and I always encourage my audience to try and imagine flying over the land, looking down. They resemble maps, different parts of the land meeting each other.”
Featured at the entrance of the estate, the work spans an impressive 200 square metres and presented new challenges for the artist. She collaborated with fellow muralist Leia Duffy, using sketches mapped over photos of the wall as a reference. “Normally my process is quite intuitive and unplanned, though I enjoy working on a large scale because it allows for accidents. It gives me space to play, and I like being able to use my whole body while painting,” she says.
In terms of her colour and composition choices, Tiarna emphasises the organic nature of her decisions. “We used large makeshift brushes to execute the loose brushstrokes and mini rollers to carve out edges.” Both the palette and composition, informed by nature and personal experiences, breathe life into the mural, evoking a sense of warmth.
Both the palette and composition, informed by nature and personal experiences, breathe life into the mural, evoking a sense of warmth.
The artwork, which represents a fusion of Tiarna’s artistic styles, has also enabled her to find a new connection to her work. “For the first time, I think I felt what my collectors and audience have felt when looking at my work. I feel now, more than ever, that this work has power – it carries and will create histories.”
The artist stresses the importance of corporate support for emerging artists. “When you support an emerging artist, not only are you potentially making a financial investment, you’re also investing in a more diverse and conscientious future for the art world.”
By transforming its industrial spaces, Urban Logistics Co. sets a precedent for the fusion of commerce and creativity, illustrating the transformative power of art in our daily life. The second volume of the Artist Series is expected to launch later this year.
