Silo art fever is continuing to spread in the Outback with the Western Australian Wheatbelt town of Merredin the latest to unveil its giant masterpiece.
The 35-metre high artwork created by Perth artist Kyle Hughes-Odgers is the third artwork in the quickly expanding WA Silo Trail. Works at Northam and Ravensthorpe are already drawing plenty of attention from passing grey nomads and other travellers.
The concept, which is taking off across the whole of Australia, is designed to cast a spotlight on lesser known towns in regional areas … and caravanners and motorhomers are lapping it up
The ‘playful’ Merredin artwork depicts two large plant pots with sprouting seedlings, which represent the importance of the agricultural industry to the Wheatbelt region, with a man and a woman standing tall on the silos. The patterns on the woman’s body apparently pay reference to local buildings, structures and local icons in Merredin, while the designs on the man’s body are inspired by local salt lakes, dams, and granite outcrops.
Kyle Hughes-Odgers spent two weeks in a cherry picker creating his 12-storey-high masterpiece, going through 200 litres of paint.
The shire’s CEO Greg Powell told the ABC he hoped the eye-catching design would persuade grey nomads and other tourists travelling along Great Eastern Highway and to stop in, rather than just driving by.
“One of the issues we have being on a major road is that it’s difficult to get people to stop,” he said. “Certainly having something like this will give people an opportunity to stop and see what else is around Merredin.”
Brilliant.
Is there a website where all the silo artwork is registered. Would love to see it all.
Gotta say that one doesn’t grab me as much as some of the silo art has. Anyway – a great initiative for rural towns.
Fantastic, there should be more of it done!