Nature's art of healing is the Star at Hornsby Kurringai Hospital
The state of the art STAR (Surgical, Theatres, Anaesthetic and Recovery services) building will be the new heart of the reborn Hornsby Kurringai Hospital. The STAR's exciting art collection, managed form inception by Karen Burton of KBArt, was revealed at the August, 2015 opening.
The overarching theme for the Hornsby Kuringai STAR Artwork Project as a whole is regeneration - the regrowth and renewal of the hospital, and of the quality of health services delivered for the surrounding community, and since regeneration, renewal and regrowth are an integrated part of the life cycle of every natural environment, the theme of nature is an ideal choice for the inspiration for the artworks featured in the new STAR building. All the more so since art based on nature can be described as therapeutic in its own right, since contact with nature is widely acknowledged to have a calming and healing properties
The art collection itself draws on the natural power and beauty of the Hornsby Kurringai area, since more than 50% of the region is made up of reserves and National Parks that host some of the largest surviving bush enclaves in the Sydney area. It is also an area of immense significance to our Aboriginal fellow Australians, since there are more than 800 significant art and cultural sites of the Gadigal people preserved in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park alone.
To bring this concept to life, Karen Burton invited eight established Australian artists, each accomplished in their own fields, to approach the natural theme with their unique vision. The invited artists - Oliver Watts, Jade Oakley, Judy Holding, Marguerite Derricourt, Gabrielle Jones, Lucy Carroll Frances Feasey and indigenous photographer Wayne Quillium - were asked to interpret the natural beauty of the area in their art with the objectives of offsetting the clinical ambiance of a hospital with reassuring natural images which were also stimulating and interesting.
One other unique facet of the project is the creative contribution made by Ku-ring-gai Hospital's own staff, who added their visual talents to that of the commissioned artists through a photographic competition mentored by commissioned artist Wayne Quilliam who participated in a workshop with entrants at the start of the project. The 12 winning staff photographs, together with the paintings and photographs created by our commissioned artists, will be on permanent display in public areas throughout the STAR building.