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Painted with members of the Surry Hills community, this mural makes the terrace disappear into native bush land and a series of colourful birds and animals appear.
Artist: Peter Day
Artwork description
Artist Peter Day was appointed artist-in-residence in Surry Hills in 1981 through a grant from the NSW Premier’s Department.
The basic concept of the mural was to camouflage the existing terrace house’s white wall to make it merge with the surrounding trees, grass and sky. Painting began on 3 January 1981 and, as the work progressed, local residents were surprised when they saw a section of Nickson Street disappear into native bush land and a series of colourful birds and animals appear.
The mural was repainted in 2012 by Day and members of the local community, some of whom had been involved in the creation of the original work. In total the mural includes almost 40 species of birds, 4 dogs, a cat and some local residents. The names of many of the plants and animals are written along the base of the mural.
“It was a lovely experience to re-live because it remains one of my favourites and was the first inspiring community art mural I ever did. It taught me the importance of including local people to create something meaningful. It was great to go back there and have the opportunity to redo it – it felt like I was re-affirming my wedding vows!”
– Peter Day, 2012
Urban ecology and the artwork
As part of the restoration of the artwork in 2012, Peter worked with the City of Sydney’s urban ecology manager to include more indigenous birds in the new design, add new tiny laser-cut steel birds and integrate 3 windows, which have been installed by the terrace owner since the artwork was first painted.
The mural features Australian birds including the superb fairy-wren, willie wagtail, Australian magpie, rainbow lorikeet, crimson rosella, laughing kookaburra, sulphur-crested cockatoo and tawny frogmouth.
New species added to the design include the black cockatoo and the pale rosella.
While some of the larger species, such as the rainbow lorikeet, are very common in Surry Hills and the city, smaller species such as the silvereye and spotted pardalote have declined.
The City of Sydney’s urban ecology strategic action plan aims to identify and restore habitats and encourage the less common species, so that hopefully they will once more become abundant throughout the city.
