To celebrate the opening of UniSC Moreton Bay, we commissioned six artists identifying as Traditional Custodians/Owners connected to UniSC regions to make a limited-edition etching. The selected artists, Bianca Beetson (Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi, Wiradjuri), Melinda Serico (Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi, Iman), Jason Murphy (Jinibara), David Jones (Dalungbara), Cion Paiwan (Cobble Cobble, Panai) and Aunty Hope O’Chin ( Kabi Kabi, Wakka Wakka, Koa, Guugu Yimithirr) worked with master printmaker, Dian Darmansjah, during a five-day residency in late 2019 to create their original etching. Since opening, the etchings have been on display in the foundation building.

Melinda Serico’s etching Changes was selected to be reinterpreted as a glazing treatment across the building. Melinda is a descendant of the Gubbi Gubbi/Kabi Kabi people from the Sunshine Coast region on her grandmother’s side, and the Iman people from Central Queensland on her grandfather’s side. She is a practising visual artist inspired by places in the landscape, nature’s beauty, and her cultural heritage. About the artwork, Melinda says, “It depicts the past of this area which was a great community camp for Aboriginal peoples. Located by the river, there was an abundance of food, shelter and life itself.”

Melinda worked with a design agency to adapt the etching to suit this new purpose and special attention was paid to aligning elements from the etching across the building to the locations on Country. For example, the scar tree is positioned looking out to where this culturally significant tree is located and the North Pine River, with its abundance of fish, wraps around much of the building mimicking the way it curves through Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi Country.

Melinda Serico
Australia born 1964, Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi, Iman
Changes 2019
Etching on paper, 20.0 x 25.0cm
Edition 1/12
Printed by Dian Darmansjah
UniSC Art Collection. Acquired in 2020. Commissioned for the opening of UniSC Moreton Bay.
© Melinda Serico
Photo: Carl Warner