Onespace Directors John Stafford and Jodie Cox were very excited to attend the Cross River Rail Station Art launch on Tuesday morning. Under the Station Art program, the four new underground stations will feature fourteen separate public artworks by some of Queensland’s most celebrated and acclaimed First Nations artists.
Onespace is extremely proud that Elisa Jane Carmichael, Tamika Grant-Iramu, Brian Robinson and Teho Ropeyarn will be commissioned to create amazing artworks for the Station Art program, and we thank curator Barbara Flynn for her exceptional work in bringing both the Station Art program and these commissions together.
Following the launch, we accompanied Quandamooka artist Elisa Jane Carmichael, curator Barbara Flynn, plaza commission artist Jody Rallah, and staff of the Cross River Rail Delivery Authority, on a site visit of Woolloongabba Station to see the first of the Cross River Rail artworks installed – Elisa Jane’s remarkable piece, Plants, Waters, Gathering Time. Measuring 16 metres by 29 metres, and comprising 108 glazed panels, this epic work, immerses the viewer in the richness of the environmental and cultural heritage in this place.
Evoking the importance of Woolloongabba as a meeting place of great spiritual significance to First Nations peoples, Carmichael’s work acknowledges and honours the past, and offers respect to Traditional Owners of all lands in this continent, and elders past, present and future.
Congratulations to all the remarkable First Nations artists commissioned, curator Barbara Flynn, the Queensland Government, Cross River Rail Delivery Authority, Hassell Architects, the underground station’s major contractor CGBU and Pulse Consortium and the Cross River Rail art panel of Charlotte Day, Wesley Enoch, Hanna Donnelly, and Bruce John McLean.
Artwork: Elisa Jane Carmichael, plants, waters, gathering time, 2023, artwork fabricated from cyanotype.
Image: courtesy of the Cross Rover Rail Delivery Authority.
