New indigenous artwork to welcome guests to Brisbane Airport

"Land, Sea and Sky" – the key elements of Brisbane Airport and the name of the exciting new artwork proudly displayed at the International Terminal. Created by North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah) local and Indigenous artist and designer, Delvene Cockatoo-Collins this bespoke piece of work will speak to Brisbane Airport's history and the link to the Traditional Owners of the land.  

If you haven’t heard of Delvene, she is a well-known artist who has an extensive collection of work including ceramics, sculptures, original artworks and the design that featured on the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games medals. Based on Quandamooka country in Minjerribah, Delvene frequently travels through Brisbane Airport and is excited to have her artwork visible at the terminal and share her message.  

“Art is a great way to share messages. And I think in that space as I continue to share these messages, whether its spending time with my mum or in the beautiful natural environment or the written words of my grandmother, I’ve become more confident with sharing it. It’s a gentle way to sometimes get a really strong message across.”  

To delve into the connection with the airport, Delvene explored Brisbane Airport’s 285 hectare biodiversity zone to get a sense of the land beyond the public precincts.  She used this opportunity to collect a number of different elements such as bark, leaves and rocks to inform and influence the artwork she's creating.  

“Seeing the Biodiversity zone, for me the most surprising part was how much it looked like everywhere else around the bay and that it’s still part of the airport. There’s still this amazing space you can access and think this is what it would have looked like 100, 200, 300 years ago” 

The next step in bringing the artwork to life was to return to Delvene’s studio on Minjerribah and use the items collected from the Biodiversity Zone to create the base. To start the process Delvene laid out two pieces of fabric (canvas and linen as she wasn’t sure which material she preferred) on her front lawn. Then using a roller brush she painted both pieces of fabric with a protein to create the base of the artwork.  

Once dry, the fabric was submerged in dye for 24 hours along with the pieces of bark, leaves, rocks and other materials collected from the Biodiversity Zone at Brisbane Airport. The fabric is held in place in the water with Cotton Tree sticks to create a unique colour and pattern that will make the base of the artwork.  The rust from the items on Cribb Island helped to soak the colour into the fabric.  

In April 2023, Delvene featured as an Artist in Residence at the International Terminal which allowed people to watch the artwork being created, connect with Delvene and to strengthen the connection with the airport.  

“The thing that I didn’t anticipate happening while doing the Artist in Residence was to meet people and find a connection with them. For me it shows that if you dig deep enough there will be some for of understanding of each other.”  

Delvene joined Brisbane Airport to celebrate National Reconciliation Week on Monday 29 May and to unveil her completed artwork to excited staff. 

"Land, Sea and Sky" is now on display on the ground level of the International Terminal, situated prominently at the entry to the terminal, serving as a testament to the rich cultural legacy of Australia’s First Peoples. Read the artist statement here.

You can also watch the artwork come to life in this video.