Jason Parker, ‘Lotus Garden’ (2023), 206 Bourke Street, Melbourne. Photography by Phil Soliman. Commission curated, produced, and delivered by ART AID.
A lotus garden at the gateway to Melbourne's Chinatown.
In 2023, ART AID was engaged by IFM Investors to curate, produce, and manage the installation of a permanent mural at 206 Bourke Street in the Melbourne CBD. The artist was Jason Parker. Following the commission, we spoke with him about the mural, becoming a Dad, his creative process, and where public art in Australia is headed.
Lotus Garden, 206 Bourke Street, Melbourne. Photography by Phil Soliman.
The artwork
206 Bourke Street sits at the gateway to Melbourne's Chinatown, and the work responds to its address. Lotus Garden depicts a bright, fragmented landscape of lotus flowers, a symbol that carries deep meaning across many Asian cultures, rendered with a nod to Monet's water lilies. The artwork statement describes a cascade of warm, late afternoon sunlight that fades as the eye moves down the wall, and a gradient of styles: impressionistic in the upper half, transitioning into a more classically rendered form below.
"I wanted to create a mural that contrasts the surrounding hustle and bustle of the CBD with a sense of peace and tranquility," Parker says.
Lotus Garden in place at the gateway to Melbourne's Chinatown. Photography by Phil Soliman.
The artist
Jason Parker has been a constant presence in Australia's urban art scene, building a full time practice across both studio and mural work over the past decade. His visually dense works hold a play between chaos and control, with figures and florals that carry the artist's thinking about the state of the world and the complexity of our inner and outer lives. ART AID has worked with Parker more than once: he was also one of three artists in our year-long residency program at Collins Place for Mirvac.
"I have painted two murals this year, 206 Bourke included, where the client trusted my vision and gave me full creative control, and both happened to be on smooth surfaces as opposed to brick. Honestly, you can't ask for much more than that."
Jason Parker
In conversation with Jason Parker
Jason Parker at work. Photography by Phil Soliman.
ART AID: First of all, congratulations on becoming a parent! Has this influenced your perspective as an artist or outlook on life?
I'd say it hasn't influenced my art much, although I am much more efficient and productive when I am in the studio or muraling now. No time to waste anymore! It has influenced my outlook however, I am a lot less nihilistic these days, it's hard not to be positive around such joy and innocence.
ART AID: Walk me through your creative process, and how you approached concept development for Bourke Street.
With murals I like to reference the surrounding area and community. With this particular mural I took inspiration from the fact that 206 Bourke is in Melbourne's Chinatown, which led me to the lotus flower, an important symbol in a lot of Asian cultures.
ART AID: What initially drew you to becoming a muralist?
I just fell into it. Being an artist in Melbourne led me down this path. However I have developed a deep love and appreciation for murals over the years and the opportunities I've had because of them.
ART AID: How has public artwork influenced your studio practice and vice versa?
There was a slight separation in my mural and studio practice, but over the years as my artistic voice becomes more defined I am finding they are much more aligned, with each informing the other.
Lotus Garden on Bourke Street. Photography by Phil Soliman.
ART AID: Mural artworks have evolved significantly over the past decade. Where do you think the field is headed, and what do you hope to see happening in the future?
I do worry for the mural scene in Australia. We are blessed to live in a country where there are so many well paid opportunities, but I do feel this can come at a cost. Often we find ourselves operating within such a tight brief, with a push (especially by councils) to incorporate or touch on certain themes. This means the look of murals in Australia are becoming increasingly homogenised. That's not to say anything of the amount of talent within Australia, I just hope artists will begin to have more freedom to create engaging works that can spark meaningful conversation rather than just be there to visually beautify an area.
ART AID: Finally, drawing on your own experience as an artist, what advice or guidance would you offer to someone just starting out?
Always keep the end goal in sight. There are days when you will most definitely want to throw in the towel and it feels like the biggest uphill battle. But having a mantra in mind when you are in a slump, like "I will become a full time artist, who exhibits worldwide", can really help to transcend the day to day struggles.
With thanks to Jason Parker for the work and the conversation. To Phil Soliman for the photography. And to IFM Investors for a commission that gave the artist room to move.
ART AID is a public art and cultural consultancy working at the intersection of art, community, and place. To find out more about our work visit art-aid.co or follow @artaidau.
