Daly Bay Illuminate

Brian Robinson is a Waiben (Thursday Island) artist who also has Maluyligal and Wuthathi heritage. His work explores imagery drawn from ancestral iconography of the Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait), and he uniquely interweaves this with images from popular culture and science fiction.

This dual-experience installation transforms from a daytime mural into a glowing nighttime artwork. Inspired by the gills of local mushrooms, it celebrates fungi that sustain our environment. At night, colour-shifting LEDs animate the mural, making elements appear, disappear, and move – creating an illusion that echoes how mushrooms emerge and vanish in nature.

River Kin transforms local children’s science-inspired drawings of river flora and fauna into animated light across the Pioneer Shire Building. Fish, mangroves, insects and currents flow together, celebrating the Pioneer River’s living ecosystem and our shared responsibility to care for it.

At dawn, Saltwater People gather by misty waters. An Elder summons Kadal, the crocodile, as a digital projection by Torres Strait Island artist Patrick Thaiday illuminates the scene. Day turns to night; reflections transform the people. The evening star becomes the Dhari, as Kadal is revealed – Ancestor, glowing with enduring kinship.

Aliza Kroeger is a mixed‑media artist whose practice has expanded into stop‑motion animation. Born in Saskatoon, Canada, in 2011, she moved to Mackay with her family in 2015. Her early passion for making art continues to shape the way she engages with and questions the world around her.