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Campus artwork

Immersive in many ways

North Metropolitan TAFE has always been an integral part of art and cultural activity, being a major part of the Northbridge cultural precinct. It has provided a multitude of opportunities and employment for aspiring artists, musicians and designers.

We have created a substantial body of urban art that takes the creativity going on inside our workshops to the outside world.  Working in partnership with organisations such as the MRA and City of Perth, the local streets have been enriched with a great range of work that celebrates the sheer joy found in creativity. 

You can find further information on some of the artworks within the Northbridge cultural precinct

Please note Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following page contains images of people who have died.

Eugene Winmar and students | Untitled | Monterey pine, fire etched 2012

Perth campus

Waterworks

Has anyone working in or passing through our main foyer at 25 Aberdeen Street ever wondered why these three works were chosen to so prominently represent our art collection?

Apart from their large size and vibrant colours, they all reference water in some way – that vital resource in our dry continent – and each are presented to the viewer from an aerial perspective.

Narputta Jugadai’s work depicts across its centre a salt lake near Lake MacDonald, close to her community at Haast’s Bluff in the Northern Territory. Although this is obviously dry and unsustaining, the rocky hills around it contain rock pools that allow bush tucker to flourish after the rains.

Narputta Nangala Jugadai | Kaarkurutinytja | acrylic on linen, 2006

Richard Woldendorp, an immigrant from the Netherlands, has forged an international reputation for his amazing photographic images of Australia from the air. Interested in its shifting tides, moving sands and millions of years of evolution, here he shows us a tiny band of fertility around a rocky ridge as it is reached by the nearby flooding waterways of Queensland.

Richard Woldendorp | Cooper's Creek flood plain, Queensland | inkjet colour print, 2009

Rover Thomas, one of our most famous Aboriginal artists, and the first to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale, shows us, again from above, his country in the Kimberley’s Great Sandy Desert. The concentric circles represent rock holes, a vital source of water for his people to know about as they travelled across country seeking food or performing ceremonies.

Rover Thomas | Jaandoo (Tjarntu) Rock Holes in the Great Sandy Desert | ochres on canvas, c1996

Art and about

The art fiesta of Aberdeen Street includes the large mandala created by local artist Ian Williams.  Ian is a former student, completing his Advanced Diploma of Visual Art and Craft here a few years ago.  

His bold design doesn’t just stand out to passersby; it is becoming a much loved (and much photographed!) visual backdrop for students taking a break from their studies. 

Ian Williams | Mandala

Jurek Wybraniec, one of Australia’s leading abstract artists, has been an art lecturer at TAFE since the early 90s, first at Claremont School of Art and now in Northbridge.

In his practice there is a distinctive balance between variety and uniformity, resulting from a creative process which appears both methodical and imaginative, disciplined and playful, analytical and excessive. The works, like this 20 foot sea container painted ‘Pink Pink’, are often startling and full of interpretative possibilities. 

Jurek Wybraniec | Speed 99 | Northbridge campus

A 2011 TAFE graduate, Chloe Locke has won numerous awards, including a Commendation for this chair at the Design Institute of Australia Awards.

The WA Christmas tree, known as Floribunda was my inspiration due to the curves of the bloom and the repeated balloon shapes of its petals.

In taking the design from paper to reality, fibreglass seemed the best option… lightweight and thin but strong and long lasting.

Chloe Locke | Floribunda Chair I | moulded fibreglass, enamel paint, 2010

Steve holds a Master of Photographer with the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP) and is an accredited medical photographer with the Australian Institute of Medical & Biological Illustration (AIMBI), in line with his work as a Medical Photographer at Royal Perth Hospital. 

Interested in architecture, environmental design and music, he also runs a successful commercial photography business in Perth specialising in fine art portraiture. 

Of his subject Monique he says "She is the contemporary Australian Madonna. The new generation of strong young Indigenous women who stand proud and continue to represent their culture with humility and courage."

View more of Steve's work.

Steve Wise | Monique  2017 | archival inkjet print

Australian stencil artist, E.L.K, created this tribute portrait of the late Oz hip hop rapper, Rob Hunter (MC Hunter) on Museum Street. 

Hunter was a founder of Perth's hip hop scene in the 1990s. 

E.L.K. | MC Hunter 2015

On his first visit to Australia, Buenos Aires based artist Ever created a huge, striking mural in less than a week as part of FORM’s Opens in a new window public art project.  

“My piece talks about migrating to another place, the fact of moving thoughts, cultures and body. The big figure represents the arrival at a site, and the face is the new knowledge that is deposited in the door. Sometimes the door opens or closes.”

Ever (Nicolás Romero) | Migration

The chicken-legged houses are based on the story of Baba Yaga, a witch of eastern European cautionary fairy tales.  

Artist Marwa Fahmy said, “I wanted to create a work that would reflect our growth of knowledge and education and our multicultural nature, while being a quirky, fun and memorable piece. Fairy tales and stories teach you many lessons, but they especially nurture your imagination, helping you create fantastical images in your head. 

Marwa Fahmy | Baba Gaga Houses

A 1997 TAFE graduate, Stephen Tabor’s piece was selected to be shown at the 'Furnitex' Melbourne Furniture Exhibition in 1999.

Since 2007 Stephen has been director of Z-Rest Furniture which specialises in contemporary minimalist designs for apartment living.

Stephen Tabor | Mercury Tall Boy 1997 | beech veneer MDF, chrome plated copper and polished mild steel

Darren Stockwell is an Aboriginal man from the Waradjuri tribes of NSW, a descendant of the Bogan River people.

He graduated from TAFE with an Advanced Diploma in Fine Art in 2016. 

This experimental digital piece demonstrates his ongoing search for his identity and was acquired from Gallery Central’s 2019 NAIDOC show I see you, I hear you

Darren Stockwell | Hybrid Me 2019 | digital print

Italian street artist Pixel Pancho specialises in large wall murals.  Pixel creates ‘anatomical street robots’ inspired by different environments, claiming that his work is intended to provoke the viewer to ask the question, “Are we all just machines?”

The work relates to both migrants coming to Australia to make a new world, and how we are all immigrants in our own way.

Pixel Pancho | Self-protection of the Immigrant in Ourself

This is a piece of art commissioned by the College and The Department of Housing Works. The work is based on a captivating notion - a cloud, a chrome swimming pool, a suburban symbol, a piece of nature. 

The floor in the building’s foyer incorporates a kidney-shaped cobble stone section, each cobble engraved with place names and meaningful moments in TAFE history. These cobbles are grouted with super-blue grout to reflect the ‘swimming pool’ above.

Stephen Neille and Jurek Wybraniec | Cloud | Northbridge campus

This corroboree is believed to have been produced at Port Welshpool (now Forrestfield) not far from Kala Munda (many fires) in 1907 by William Monnop (1843- 1913), the figure in the centre. 

He master-minded the stage construction, decorations, body painting and choreography of the dancing and miming. He also conducted the music and singing and made dramatic use of lighting and other stage effects. 

Joobych/Joobaitch, on the left, was a Whadjuk Elder from the Guildford area. Son of well-known Nyoongar leader Yellagonga, he was born in 1830 and lived through the first years of the Swan River Colony, helping Daisy Bates during her research on the Nyoongar people’s customs and ceremonies. 

Photographer Unknown (possibly E G Rome) | Joobych, Woolber, Monnop, Dool and Gerburdong, painted for corroboree  c1900-1910 Kalamunda | digital print 009491PD, image courtesy the State Library 

A 2016 TAFE graduate, Nidia Hansen was already an established artist, teacher and arts administrator, with a number of awards to her name.

In this work she examines materiality as a repetitive organic process in which the materials lead the way, creating a dialogue with the artist. The subtle gradation of colours from dark to light could also represent a beacon of hope emerging from the darkness. 

Kindly donated by the artist.

Nidia Hansen | Encounters Opens in a new window 2013 | wood veneer, hessian, industrial cardboard, household paint  

Leederville campus

Adjacent to our Leederville campus is the Oxford Foyer which displays several contemporary pieces inside and out.

You'll discover several murals around our Leederville campus, including We are all connected, part of Perth-based artist Stormie Mill's Real Trash series.

Best known for his whimsical, thought provoking characters, his work draws on a deep sense of isolation and yet each character seems to carry a message of hope.

Stormie Mills | We are all connected 2015

The idea of the Blue Tree project is to help spark difficult conversations and encourage people to speak up when battling mental health concerns.

By spreading the paint and spreading the message that "it’s OK to not be OK", we can help break down the stigma that’s still largely attached to mental health.

This mural on A Block was completed as part of FORM's public festival.

It was one of the first murals and painting that Fudge hadn't focused on typography. His aim was to produce a contemporary Suprematist mural using the visual language and motifs from traditional graffitti, pop art and comics including; bubbles, extrusions, drips, explosions and geometric shapes.

Fudge | Deconstruction 2015

Midland campus

Located adjacent to F Block, laser-cut steel panels consisting of a mix of images and topography, this mural celebrates Neil Byrne and his long association with the Western Australian Rail Industry.

The mural evokes the history of the Midland Railyards as well as the future of rail and training, of which our Midland campus plays a large part.

Dipesh Prasad | Memorial mural | Laser steel panels 2020

Nigel Hewitt graduated from Claremont School of Art in 1977 and has painted and exhibited regularly since then, winning numerous awards and being represented in many major public and private collections.

Nigel Hewitt | Melancholy Tide | Mixed media on paper 1998