Jasmine Miikika Craciun x Bates Smart
We engaged First Nations multi-media artist and graphic designer, Jasmine Miikika Craciun, to design an artwork for Bates Smart.
Residing on Gadigal land, Jasmine works predominantly in digital illustration and mural. Her artistic practice also includes animation, sculpture, textile and installation. Her art-making process is informed by her diverse familial background (Barkindji, Malyangapa, Romanian, Australian) with the goal of celebrating the strength of those who came before her.
Within represents the patterns of Country that are connected to the colonial built environment. Named Within to reference the layers of land that live ‘within’ our city walls. This work specifically references, Middens, Red Cedar and Sandstone.
Each of these materials had a traditional use prior to becoming building materials. Middens are the remains of years of gathering and food sharing, Red cedar was an incredibly important resource for it’s many uses from canoes to rope to medicine and food, Sandstone was most commonly used for grinding stones.
Each material was chosen as they reference each place that Bates Smart holds an office space.
The shells represented in this design specifically link to the types of shells that would be found in middens in Victoria.
The Red cedar tree was found in Australia from NSW all the way to Northern Queensland while Sandstone deposits are famously common in the Sydney area.
These patterns and designs were then layered to create an abstracted work that aimed to reference a plan or topographic map. Lines and organic shapes coexist in this artwork to create their own landscape of history and culture.
View more of Jasmine’s work here https://www.jasminecraciun.com/