Ngalamba: to stop and wait a while

Ngalamba: to stop and what a while

2021 Rye

The public artwork, titled Ngalamba: to stop and wait a while, has seen a ‘living wall’ come to life in Napier Street, Rye.

With metal wall sculptures and native plants, the work of art tells the story of Bunurong’s five seasons. It is produced by artists David Wood of Bent Metal, Daniel van de Wiel of It Stands Out and Shanai Kellett of Maloga Art.

The story revealed in this design will inform future generations on the importance of conserving indigenous species of the local sand belt region.

The Five Seasons
Bullarto n’yoweenth (Summer 1)
Wygabil-ny-wein (Summer 2)
Manemit (Autumn)
Perin (Winter)
Pareip (Spring)

This project has been developed in close consultation with the Bunurong Land Council and is supported by locally sourced sand belt plants from the Willum Warrain Aboriginal Bush Nursery. The endeavor is made possible through matching funding from the Shire, provided by the Living Local Suburban Grants Program, in collaboration with the Victorian Government Department of Jobs, Precincts, and Regions, along with the Art, Culture, and Community Department.

David Wood is the principal artist at Bent Metal, a traditional blacksmith and art practice in South Melbourne. David, has over 29 years’ experience in creating large and small works of traditional wrought iron. His work is highly sort after by architects and designers and has been commissioned to produce many works of public art in Melbourne, Australia and overseas.

His work is tightly bound in the physical performance of making. David explores themes of nature and human spirit through both functional and purely cerebral works.  Underlying principles of mathematics and physics drive both form and function. Through the creative process he endeavours to connect spirit to place while furthering and upholding a long tradition of smithing.

Shanai Kellett from Mologa Art, is an artist and educator of Yorta Yorta/Juru descent who uses different sized dot and line patterns to create a variety of textures throughout each art piece along with traditional symbols from her grandparent’s country. Bright, bold acrylic colours accentuate these forms contrasted by deep warm tones.

Maloga (sand) is used in some of Shanai’s works to connect us with mother nature. This unique sand art style has been passed down through her mother’s history and it is a style that Shanai endeavours to continue to use in her works.  

Daniel first began painting in 1997 and has completed hundreds of murals, successfully executed numerous community led mural projects, participated in exhibitions, started a creative business and travelled the world painting in large mural festivals.

Daniel paints across a wide range of subject matter and styles including, large scale photo realism, illustrative works, 3 Dimensional and trompe l’oeil. His belief is that the artwork should reflect a community, be site specific, aspirational as well as inspirational.

Location

Napier Street,  Rye 3941  View Map

-38.3723901,144.8217085

Napier Street , Rye 3941

Napier Street , Rye 3941

Ngalamba: to stop and wait a while