THE Naracoorte Regional Art Gallery now dons a spectacular mural depicting the Naracoorte Caves ancient mega fauna thanks to talented Mount Gambier artist Diana Wiseman.
Officially opened on March 8, the project was a combined effort from the Naracoorte Lucindale Council, the Naracoorte Art Gallery Board and Naracoorte Art Gallery’s Jayne Stacey for the concept idea.
“The brief from the council was to design a piece of art which would reflect their harmony and culture theme,” Ms Wiseman said.
Ms Wisemna said Dr Liz Reid – a paleontologist and research fellow at the University of Adelaide – was also an integral part of the process as she helped assist with researching the mega fauna.
“It was an intriguing process as we only know what bones they had – and we have no idea about any other features such as their colour,” Ms Wiseman said.
“I had to leave it up to my artistic licence to create the images.”
Designing the nine metre long mural was also a technical task as the work was not directly painted onto the walls due to heritage restrictions.
“The work had to be printed on aluminium boards and etching plates had to be made,” Ms Wiseman said.
“An etching press was also used and it took many trials to make it look just how I wanted.”
The original prints were then sent to Sydney to scan at high resolution and then sent back to print in Naracoorte and digitally blown up to then be placed on the wall.
However, this is not the first large mural the artist has painted, with her work also shown at the Mount Gambier Railway Lands depicting around seven bird species.
When seeing the final product sprawled onto the walls of the gallery, Ms Wiseman said she was ecstatic.
“I am usually very humble, but when I saw it in its final stage it exceeded my expectations,” she said.
“I hope it will be a lasting community asset for visitors and the community to enjoy.”
Ms Wiseman has been exhibiting since 1980 and is part of Penola’s Gallery54, where some of her pieces are currently on display.
