A new public artwork by artist Natasha Johns-Messenger has been commissioned for Ruffey Lake Park in Doncaster.

The Commission is being rolled out as part of the implementation of the Ruffey Lake Park Landscape Masterplan. Expressions of interest were sought from artists to propose site responsive concepts for Botanic Hill that celebrated the natural environmental features of the site.

With a primary interest in perception and site, Natasha Johns-Messenger creates artworks that employ body-scaled architectural interventions and optical techniques to produce a framework responding directly to the site as a pictorial object. 

Johns-Messenger has exhibited internationally including across Asia, America, Europe and Australia including a solo show at Heide Museum of Modern Art in 2016. Most recently she was awarded the Southern Way McClelland Commission where she will install a new sculpture along the Peninsula Link freeway.

In the artist statement below Natasha speaks about what has inspired the work.

“EllipseCircleView, 2023 features two polished stainless steel forms: a circular structure and an ellipse. Framing Ruffey Lake Park panorama and the changing views, the sculpture encourages contemplation of its surroundings, the intertwining forms designed for both close and distant perspective appreciation.”

Site preparation work will commence at Boulevarde Hill in October with the work estimated to be installed between December 2023 and January 2024.

Find out more about the artist at Natasha Johns-Messenger or @natashajohnsmessenger.

Photo credit: Jaqueline Mitelman.