Lisa Hölzl
Rainbow Banksia

ceramic, steel, wood
125 x 55cm

This work celebrates the many different species of banksia plants found along the Cooks River and the role this plant plays in encouraging bio-diversity. The banksia's pollen-filled flowers attract birds and small mammals, enabling cross-pollination. For artist, Lisa Hölzl, the many forms and shapes the banksia takes at different stages of its lifecycle, are a constant source of inspiration. The rainbow-coloured inflorescence shown here, symbolises and celebrates the human diversity of people drawn to the banks and waters of this historical place. The flowering Banksia also symbolises rebirth and new beginnings. Not far from the Cooks River, Lisa lives and works out of an old bakery called Bakehouse Studio Marrickville. Having originally studied painting at Sydney College of the Arts, she switched to the 3D canvas of colourful, hand-painted, ceramic sculpture fifteen years ago, making botanically and biologically – inspired totemic forms, installations and small works.