Karrak Designs’ work of art at Yalinda Drive
The Bunbury Outer Ring Road (BORR) has provided seven art opportunities for local and Noongar artists. One of the commissioned works comes from Dellas and Korrine Bennell of Karrak Designs and features the colours of Djeran and the iconic Koomool.
Published: 11 December 2023, Updated: 11 December 2023
One of the key art opportunities on BORR was the abutment walls of the bridge that will be carrying Yalinda Drive over the new outer ring road. The artwork design was awarded to the mother and daughter Karrak Designs team with deep connection to the area.
Featuring flowing bands of green and blue, Dellas and Korrine Bennell infused their concept art with the sights and feelings of the local vegetation of the land and the flowing river systems. The rich colour palette represents the Noongar season of Djeran (the autumn period from April to May). It is the time of year when the hot weather finishes and the cooler breeze begins to arrive, and the Karrak Designs’ soothing art reflects just that.
The decision to focus on the Noongar Six Seasons, outlined in the project’s Urban Design strategy, was developed in consultation with the Urban Design and Landscaping Focus Group and the Aboriginal Heritage Advisory Group.
Input was also provided by over one hundred participants in a community survey in 2021.The artwork also features the Koomool, or Western Ringtail Possum, which will be depicted as recessed silhouettes and painted in stunning peacock blue to represent both the nocturnal nature of these creatures and to complete an aesthetic sense of calm for the composition.
“The Koomool is an amazing animal and brings honour to Noongar culture,” said Dellas and Korrine. “They were a source of food and their fur was used as clothing to keep warm during the winter. Our design process was to select an animal and a plant that was not only significant to Wadandi country but also to us artists.”To accompany the abutment walls, this Koomool design will also be applied to the bridge’s perforated screen walls which will feature similar green tones and a complementary aesthetic. It will also showcase the imagery of the forest red-tailed black cockatoo, known as Karrak to the Noongar people, and the Yorgam, or Red Flowering Gum Tree.
A bird's eye view of the bridge under construction
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