Kings Park Botanic Gardens celebrates WA wildflowers every September. Each year highlights a different unique aspect of the park. The theme for 2024 is ‘THREADS OF RESILIENCE’. The installation depicts the journeys that ecologies have to take in order to thrive, sometimes hanging by a thread. The bold squares reflect the man-made obstacles that affect ecologies; housing, buildings, car parks, roads, availability of water, weeds, industrial contamination, effects of climate change. The ecological communities have to adapt in order to survive these challenges. They may have to adapt to changes in light, temperature, nutrients, clearing.

The hope is that we don’t add so many man-made obstacles that species become extinct. The hope is we give them space, a little time so that they can survive into the future. It’s important to note that these man-made structures are still most play a positive role in modern life, they may take the form of essential infrastructure such as hospitals, but we must be mindful of what the effect many increasing obstacles may have on the future of biodiverse ecologies.

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Jane Coffey has designed annual art installations for Kings Park Botanic Gardens since 2010. Subjects have included native trees, wildflowers, fungi, birds and regional WA. Jane can often be found sketching in the Botanic Gardens as research for this project.

The artwork is formed from cut vinyl that is installed in the windows of Aspects of Kings Park. Each mural compliments the local artworks and products that are sold at Aspects as well as celebrating the different themes each year. Transparent, printed and metallic vinyls are layered to create complex colours and reflections that interact with the viewer from inside and outside the store.

Contact Jane Coffey for further information regarding commissioned artworks.