As day turns to night, the façade of NorthSite Contemporary Arts becomes a moving canvas for the work of Solomon Booth, transforming his richly layered paintings into a large-scale animated projection. Drawing directly from the imagery and symbolism of Booth’s current exhibition, the animation brings his visual language to life through movement, light and rhythm, extending the experience of the gallery beyond its walls and into the public realm. The work invites audiences to encounter Booth’s powerful storytelling in a new and immersive way, where ancestral knowledge, environmental fragility and contemporary realities converge across the surface of the building.

Inspired by the natural beauty and cultural traditions of the Torres Strait Islands, Booth’s practice reflects deep connections to Melanesian carving traditions, Islander storytelling and the continuity of cultural knowledge from pre-contact ancestors to the present day. Residing in Kubin Village on Moa Island, Booth has played a significant role in the development of Moa Arts and the wider Torres Strait arts community. His distinctive approach to printmaking and painting carries the intricate sensibility of carved ceremonial objects, while exploring the lived experiences, histories and environments of his community through contemporary materials and forms.

At the heart of the exhibition — and echoed throughout the façade animation — is a timely reflection on pollution, consumption and humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Booth examines the devastating impact of plastic waste on fragile ecosystems and traditional food sources, particularly marine life such as turtles and dugong that remain deeply connected to Torres Strait cultural life. Floating plastic bags drift through the animation like ghostly jellyfish, becoming potent symbols of environmental imbalance and the unseen consequences of modern consumption. Through this striking interplay of image and motion, the projection becomes both a celebration of cultural continuity and a call for greater environmental awareness, urging viewers to consider how we might live more responsibly alongside the world around us.

The Bulmba-ja facade project is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.

Are we really so self-centred that we fail to recognise the impact we are having on the natural world?"