World-renowned street artist Rone has returned to his home city of Geelong to transform the Geelong cement silos overlooking Fyansford into an incredible work of urban art. Known for his large-scale street-art installations that merge beauty and decay – with his most recent series of works shown in cities around the world, such as New York and London – the artist was commissioned by Gen Fyansford developers with the hope that it will help bolster the visual appeal of the site in the state of Victoria, Australia and create a landmark of sorts for the town.
Rone spent close to a month working on the silos throughout December and a viewing platform was installed during the day where visitors could see the artist in action high up on his crane. The work consists of three silos each painted with a large-scale portrait of local individuals, Corinna Eccles, Cor Horsten and Kelly Cartwright.
Corinna works for the Traditional Owner Corporation, Wadawurrung Aboriginal Corporation and is a direct descendent of Queen Mary of the Wadawurrung. Cor is a former cement works employee having worked at the site for 35 years, and athlete Kelly Cartwright won two medals at the London 2012 Paralympics and represented Australia at Beijing 2008 Paralympics. “Corrina helps pay homage to our First Peoples, and Cor to our industrial history. Kelly demonstrates the hard work and resilience required to overcome disability to reach her potential – particularly relevant as Geelong shores-up it’s positioning as a centre of disability service excellence,” Rone explains.
The silo art project was completed just before Christmas giving thousands of visitors to the region the chance to be some of the first people to see Rone’s finished haunting work over the holiday break.
By Kate Morgan
