Artist: Tom Day
Year: 2022
Location: Brimbank Community and Civic Centre, Sunshine
The latest Public Artwork has just been installed in the Council Chamber of the Brimbank Community and Civic Centre. The work, created by artist Tom Day is intended as a celebration of Wurundjeri culture; as the Brimbank Community and Civic Centre sits of lands of the Wurundjeri people. The recommendation for some form of artistic First Nations acknowledgment in the Chamber was an initiative of former Councillor Anh Pham.
The iconic work was designed by artist Thomas (Tom) Day. Tom is a proud Gunditjmara, Yorta Yorta and Wemba Wemba man who is deeply connected to the essence of Country. Some of this essence he has referenced in his work in the Chamber. As he states within Country there is an “interaction of countless generations, leaving their mark on it, dancing on it, singing on it, hunting on it, living with it, the story it tells is our story. From the whistling winds singing its ancient song to the fire that comes, from which all life regenerates, it has a soul that is intertwined with ours. I paint it like I see it, through Aboriginal eyes, imagining the spirits living in harmony with the people and animals.”
The works aims to encompass aspects of the vibrancy, the beauty, the tangible and the intangible of Wurundjeri Culture. In incorporates the dominant designs of both Bunjil the eagle representing creation and Waa the crow representing protection. Soaring high and overlooking country and the people, their essence touching all things. The flowing designs of the gum leaf represent the spirit of ancestors flowing in the wind, welcoming and protecting all that live in this place. There are many leaves, representing the many generations coming and the work that is done today, towards the future.