Tree of Knowledge

  • Project typePublic art
  • Completion Date25 June 2024
Mural Western BACE

Artist: Hayden Dewar
Title: Tree of Knowledge
Year: 2024
Location: 222 Ferris Road, Cobblebank, 3338

Artwork Statement

"Tree of Knowledge” is a 48x8 metre mural designed and painted by Melbourne based artist Hayden Dewar on the building at Western BACE. Hayden has created a surreal scene with characters reading, learning, and watering plants, along with an abundance of local flora and fauna. The centrepiece is a massive tree taking on a human form, reflecting the theme of “growth through knowledge,” aligning with the growth of small businesses and start-ups that Western BACE fosters. The work is teeming with life and includes some of Hayden’s most detailed work to date. The following native flora and fauna are featured: Golden Sun Moth, Southern Banjo Frog, two dingoes (referencing the local dingo reserve), native bees, Jacky Dragon (lizard), cockatoo, yam daisies, and eucalyptus flowers and leaves.

Artist Bio

Hayden Dewar is a Naarm (Melbourne) based artist with over 20 years of experience, whose colourful, imaginative murals can be found all over Naarm/Melbourne and beyond. Hayden has produced murals of all different sizes with a wide array of project outcomes — Most of these are large scale public art murals.

Hayden draws on formative influences of surrealism, street art and comic books, combining the real and imagined worlds to create work that tells a story about a place and its inhabitants. He is keenly interested in researching the surrounding area of a given project to incorporate certain aspects that identify the work with its location. Often this is achieved through the depiction of objects with historical or cultural value and native flora and fauna; disparate aspects coming together to tell a story or convey a metaphorical idea about a particular place.

Hayden’s work continually expands on a unique world overseen by his signature guardians of nature, the “Solarquins”. A place where myth, relics of the past, nature, history, and the cycle of life collide, hinting at the wonder and weirdness of life’s journey.

Hayden is passionate about transforming and enhancing public spaces through murals and thrives on the positivity and public engagement that results from letting his creativity off the leash to roam around the urban environment.

Instagram @hayden_dewar_artist

Location

222 Ferris Road, Cobblebank 3338  View Map

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