Kemps Creek, Sydney

A 290m2 mural commissioned by ESR Group, curated by Cultural Capital for a new industrial site in Sydney’s West.

Project budget: $95,000 Completion: August 2025

During my initial visit to the site designated for this mural, I was immediately drawn to the delicate green spaces nestled along the road—small but vital reminders of nature’s quiet persistence within an urban environment. As I delved deeper into the surrounding area, I discovered the Kemps Creek Nature Reserve, a rich ecological sanctuary within the broader Western Sydney Parklands. Spanning more than 5,000 hectares, this corridor of open space is home to diverse native species and one of the few remaining strongholds of woodland bird communities in Western Sydney.

Titled Resonance, this mural aims to stir emotions, memories, and sensations associated with nature—its mystery, its beauty, and its power. The visual language I employ is inspired by the natural world but shaped by the rhythms and relationships of this specific place. The chosen colour palette leans into earthy tones—warm, grounded hues with pops of brighter tones creating striking contrasts and a sense of depth. The softness of the shapes and colours contrast the harsh concrete and metal urban surroundings. Each overlapping shape suggests a relationship, an interaction, a moment of growth—mirroring not just the ecological web of Kemps Creek Reserve, but the collaborative nature of the ESR Group Limited and its broader community.

With eight threatened animal species and one endangered plant species recorded within its bounds, the reserve tells a story of resilience, interdependence, and the quiet yet powerful connections that thread through the natural world and for this reason I have chosen to feature endangered and vulnerable plants and animals like the Dillwynia tenuifolia, Sydney bush pea, Downy wattle, Juniper leaved Grevillea, Willow Gum, Marsdenia viridiflora, Cumberland Plain land snail, Flame robin, Australian painted snipe, Swift parrot and the Koala within this mural.

An exciting feature I explored in this project is the inclusion of subtle, gloss-medium shapes that are invisible at first glance, but come to life as the sun moves across the wall. Like a kind of invisible ink, these elements would shift with the weather and seasons, adding layers of meaning and discovery to the mural.

This sense of interconnectivity inspired my approach to the mural. I envisioned a work that doesn’t just depict nature but evokes the deep symbiosis between species, habitats, and environments. In a world increasingly defined by movement and change, I found it poignant that this mural’s location is itself a site of exchange—a place where goods are transported, shared, and delivered.

This constant motion echoes the natural cycles of an ecosystem, where every element plays a role in sustaining the whole.

Photographs by Aran Anderson