About the work

The mural was commissioned to celebrate the creative community at UCA Canterbury.

The design represents the various pathways and mediums that are often explored on this particular campus and demonstrates the diversity of the skills and interests of the students and staff that combine to form this unique and dynamic creative collective. Some carrots represent photography, architecture, ceramics, fashion or illustration, for example.

Making use of textures, mark-making and vibrant colours, the image forms a bold, positive statement of 'togetherness,' as represented by the string that holds the bunch of carrots together. 

The carrot form was chosen to represent both the function of the work's location and the diversity of the community that uses that facility. Carrots are a healthy vegetable and they are available in a rainbow of varieties.

The title plays on the English metaphor 'the carrot and the stick' whereby the carrot represents a reward, goal or incentive that you aim and reach for. The idea is that it aligns with our creative education and journey and is what keeps us progressing, experimenting and developing as people and as creatives.

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Some details from the design can be found below.