Lea Taylor

Lea Taylor is a Bibbulmun Artist from the Wadandi, Menang, Kaniyang, Ballardong nations in Western Australia. She is inspired by nature and firmly believes that her ancestors guide her to create in a culturally respectful way.

The area where Brookfield Place now stands, known as Buneenboro, has been significant for water and people for a long time. It was once a vibrant wetland with lakes and swamps teeming with Gilgi (freshwater crayfish), Yarkan (turtle), and Koya (frog). These wetlands were essential to the Bibbulmun (Noongar) people, particularly during the season of Djeran (April/May), when these creatures were a staple in their diet. Traditionally known as Yandjilup, the area was densely covered with Yandjit (Bull Rush). The place name "YANDJILUP" translates to "Place of Rushes," derived from the words YANDJIT (Bull Rush) and UP (place of). The development of the Perth CBD in Whadjuk Noongar Country disrupted this connection, draining ancestral lake systems and severing the ties between people, water, and Country. Acknowledging these truths is essential to envisioning a future for Boorloo and working towards healing.

With this sculpture, Lea Taylor acknowledges the significance of the modern-day Brookfield Place, as well as the vast lakes, swamps, and lush expanses of Bullrush that came before it. This perennial plant carries deep significance to the Bibbulmun people, who relied on it for survival for thousands of years.

First Nations cultural consultants, Soft Earth (Carol Innes and Barry McGuire) developed the cultural narrative for the Brookfield Place, Tower 1 lobby artworks, offering the artists two themes: 'Water is Life'; and ‘Energy of People’.

The creation of the cascading metal waterfall began when Taylor visited the site. Seeing the towering atrium walls before her she could visualise a cascading waterfall and immediately knew which direction her artwork would take.

At the foundry, stainless steel sheets were CNC cut into ribbons resembling strands of dried bullrush grass, ranging from 500mm to 1500mm in length. Each ribbon was then hand-formed through heat treatment to resemble the natural flowing shape of dried bullrush grass.

In collaboration with Taylor, and the client, we arranged the stainless-steel blades on the interior foyer wall, creating two cascading, multi-layered waterfalls approximately 10 meters high. The gentle movement of the artwork, influenced by the natural airflow within the space, evokes the image of a soft breeze over the lakes moving through the Bull Rush.