Shimmer

Layers of storytelling and local Aboriginal cultural customs are embodied in the artworks that take pride of place at the Heffron Centre. Created by indigenous artists Carmen Glynn-Braun and Dennis Golding, they wove connections to country into their work. Like shimmering treasures to be discovered, the three golden-hued mural artworks in the form of painted motifs, decals and sculptured bronze, wrap around the Heffron Centre's exterior and float through to the interior, ready to catch the light of the sun. Although differing in medium, the artworks carry the joint title 'Shimmer' and through various glimmering depictions, celebrate local wildlife such as stingrays, barrow hawks as well as the annual winter mullet run that has sustained Aboriginal people in Kamay Botany Bay for generations.“We titled all the works Shimmer because they're all interconnected in how they reflect light, like the sun off the water,” Carmen said. “It's not just about reflection in a literal sense, but also about reflection of the past and listening, and especially listening to elders.” The placement of the golden artworks on the exterior of the building was intentional. “The sun interacts with it twice a day, as it would on top of the water with the mullet flowing through the water below,” explained Carmen.