Rivers Flow

Commissioned for the River Canoe Club, the collaborative design by artists Zachery Bennett-Brook (Saltwater Dreaming) and Kim Siew, embraces the surrounding area of the Cooks River, playing with the theme of water and the reflections of the natural environment.

Bennett-Brook is a contemporary Indigenous artist of Torres Strait Islander ancestry, born and raised in Dharawal Country (Wollongong), who has a love for the waterways, creating artworks which represent his surroundings and passions.

The artwork wraps around the building in a smooth flowing manner, mimicking the movement of water, incorporating Bennett-Brook’s Indigenous styled patterns which represents water in some sections, and meeting places – people coming together – in other sections.

Siew’s work links in, with silhouettes of many local animals, both mullet fish and water birds, as well as some plants which are found along the edges of the river. People in canoes and kayaks paddle throughout the artwork, a nod to the longstanding, and Australia’s oldest, Canoe clubhouse – a place where canoes and kayaks used to be crafted from wood by hand.

Blue tones are used throughout the work, representing both the water and sky, with different viewing points added, a view from above, and a view from a canoe, or from across the water.

(Sorry for the shadowy photos - I need to retake these on a cloudy day.)