Like Moths to a Flame by Brett Piva is a large-scale painting that offers diverse marks created by the local community while investigating markings sourced from the local environment. This unique mural is also conducive to subliminal wayfaring which directs an audience to a second gallery entrance.
Piva worked with students from Warners Bay High School to create unique brushes and tools built from foraged materials from the natural environment of the Booragul foreshore that surrounds MAC yapang. Under Piva’s guidance, the natural brushes were used to paint unique and diverse markings which mirror his studio practice and now appear within the mural to connect the students to the artist’s process and the natural landscape.
Observed from many vantage points in the sculpture garden, the mural begins as delicate floating forms that hug the exterior walls of the cafe, slowly moving around half of the art museum building as it gains momentum towards a more tumultuous presence which gathers around a large illuminated triangle.
The mural creates intrigue and a unique attraction to a new light, like moths to a flame.