Hospital art – Darug Country
Emergency Department, Paediatric treatment room of the new hospital tower – Darug Country by Adam Laws.
About the art
- Medium: Painted in acrylics on canvas then printed on vinyl.
- Artist: Adam Laws.
- Year: 2022.
Adam’s inspiration was taken from the traditional stories and landscapes of the Dharug people of the Nepean region.
Dreaming stories associated with the Three Sisters are present and display the rich cultural heritage associated with the area.
Significant sites for the artist’s family such as Emu Cave and rock carvings within Yarramundi Reserve are represented in the motifs, as are elements from one version of a creation story associated with the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains (Katoomba).
Components of this story can be seen including a silhouette of the Three Sisters’ geological formation, the symbols for women sitting placed above each sister, and the lyrebird medicine man himself.
The artwork is intended to be playful and distracting for visitors to the Paediatric room. Adam’s composition creates discoverable elements such as a baby echidna eating an ant and a spread of motifs for the ceiling recreating looking up at constellations in the night sky.
Adam’s hope is that all visitors of Nepean Hospital Paediatric room enjoy viewing the artwork as much as he enjoyed creating it, inspired by the stories of his people and the Nepean Blue Mountains region.
Artist bio
Adam grew up within the knowledge of his cultural background, as a descendant of the Dharug and Darkinjung people of the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains regions of New South Wales, Australia.
As a member of an extended family network of artisans and cultural practitioners, Adam began contributing to his families output of creativity at an early age.
At age fifteen his works were published in a series of children’s books titled Kootear the Echidna and Wargan the Crow. These books share stories handed down through the generations and are used as educational tools within primary schools and prison systems across NSW.
In the years following, Adam continued to paint, entering and winning a dozen regional art shows. Through agents and galleries Adam’s body of 300+ works has been passed on to collectors around Australia and the globe, exhibiting in galleries across Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.
In the past decade, Adam has spent time living in Yulara township on the edge of the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in Central Australia. He has continued his travels within Tasmania and mainland Australia, as well as throughout Asia and the Pacific.
Eventually residing in Ottawa, Canada, Adam began to work and paint within the North American art scene, displaying his heritage as a guest on Algonquin First Nations land.
Since this time, Adam has furthered his travels across North, Central, and South America, often in the pursuit of witnessing traditional artisans and pre-modern art sites, with a keen emphasis on petroglyphs.
Adam currently resides in Adelaide and continues to evolve as an artist and supporter of traditional peoples.