Co-designed public artwork for library

Moonee Valley residents have tapped into their artistic side as part of the creation of a permanent public art piece for Ascot Vale Library.

Multidisciplinary artist Olivia Chin recently hosted a series of public art workshops where participants were able to collaborate on large-scale artwork.

Both of which will be displayed at Ascot Vale Library, one from exhibition of a series of works titled ‘Body Field’ in early 2024 at the Incinerator Gallery and the other drawing inspiration from the local environment of Queens Park.

“These were hands-on making, where each participant was able to share an individual response —small gestures, shapes, fragments, and images— that have come together to form this artwork,” Olivia said.

“For one artwork, we used a technique called cyanotype, which is a printmaking process that creates images in Prussian blue, that dates to the 1840s. It is well-known because it produces what we know today as blueprints and is becoming a more common art form because it is hands-on and experimental.”

Olivia explores the connection between movement and nature. She also conducted workshops and exhibited the resulting series of works titled ‘Body Field’ in early 2024 at the Incinerator Gallery.

The work is a series of three artworks. The first artwork, titled Body Field from Olivia’s previous exhibition, will be installed in the public stairwell on 9 May.

Another two untitled works will be installed at the library at a later date. This includes an oil triptych that will be on display in the adult fiction area, and a cyanotype community-created piece will be installed in the quiet study space upstairs.

The Incinerator Gallery and Moonee Valley Libraries worked collaboratively on this public art project.