HOME. 2024. Mixed media digital mural.

Home is a mixed-media illustration commissioned by the Ipswich City Council for its Spark Festival of Arts and Culture, 2024. The illustration captures four distinct landscape of the Ipswich region that the artist and residents of the city call home: the natural landmark of Finders Peak and its surrounding environment; the new housing developments currently bringing new people to the region and expanding the population of the city; the heritage buildings and architecture of the inner city and the Top of Town; and the mature trees on large blocks with Queenslander homes and cottages that are iconic to the region.

The illustration was purposefully designed to be projected around a long building fascia in the Nicholas Street precinct as a digital mural and was animated by students from SAE Institute in Brisbane. Elements of the work were featured throughout the festival program and through the light art installations at d’Arcy Doyle Place and PIXEL. Renee’s work was reinterpreted by animation students and projection artists as part of the festival program.

On Process:

To create Home, I began by brainstorming elements that were representative of the Ipswich region - places, environments, icons. From this initial exploration, I decided on four distinct environments that represent the diverse landscapes of the council region, particularly focussing on the built environment within three of the four panels - the places that people called home. Following this exploration, I took reference photos to inform my compositions. Sometimes, these compositions were drawn directly from a specific place - the Top of Town, for example - and other times, they were interpretations of the region. Each panel contains reference to flora, fauna, and iconic element of the region: Flinders Peak and the Floating Images hot air balloon; the RAAF troop carriers often seen in the sky near Amberley, the historic F. Goleby & Son’s building and St Mary’s Church; and the quaint cottages surrounded by mature trees and blooming jacarandas that turn the city purple in spring. To create the piece, I created individual elements using coloured pencil, ink, watercolour, pastel, and cut paper collage. These elements were scanned and arranged digitally in Photoshop.

Coloured pencil, ink, watercolour, cut paper collage, pastel, and digital collage.