Description

Custom photographic murals

A mural can begin with:

• one of your own photographs
• a family or archival photograph
• an image from my existing photographic work
• photography commissioned specifically for your space
• portraits or photographs developed through a community arts project

I can work with private clients, architects, interior designers, councils, schools, community organisations and cultural institutions to develop an artwork that responds to a particular site.

Projects can range from a single interior feature wall to large-scale public and community installations.

Your photograph – made larger than life

You don’t necessarily need a photograph taken on the latest camera.

One of my earliest photographic murals, Café in Sóller, began as a photograph I made in Spain on a small 3.2-megapixel digital camera in 2005.

Years later, I transformed the image into a wall-sized photographic work for my own home.

The mural was subsequently featured by The Design Files, where it became one of the defining elements of the interior.

The lesson was simple: the strength of an image doesn’t always depend on megapixels.

If you have an older family photograph, scanned print, archive image or digital photograph you would like to enlarge, send it through. I can assess the file and advise what is realistically possible before anything goes to production.

Public and community photographic murals

My practice also includes socially engaged and community-based photographic installations.

For the participatory public art project We R You, I photographed and worked with people from across the Ballarat community to create large-scale black-and-white photographic paste-ups installed across more than nine public locations.

Rather than treating a mural simply as decoration, these projects can use photography to tell the stories of the people connected to a place.

A community photographic mural might involve:

• portrait photography
• local or family archives
• workshops and community participation
• oral histories and personal stories
• historical photographs
• photographs of the surrounding landscape
• collaborative image-making
• temporary or permanent installations

This approach can work particularly well for councils, libraries, schools, community centres, cultural organisations and public spaces.

How a photographic mural commission works

1. Tell me about the space

Send photographs and approximate measurements of the wall or site, together with information about what you would like the artwork to achieve.

For public projects, we can also discuss the community, history and cultural context of the location.

2. Select or create the image

We can work from an existing photograph, archival material or one of my artworks, or develop new photography specifically for the project.

3. Prepare the artwork

I prepare the selected image for enlargement and work with the dimensions and proportions of the site.

This stage may include retouching, restoration, tonal adjustments, cropping and preparation of the final production files.

4. Choose the material

The final material depends on the location, scale, duration and surface.

Options can include photographic wall coverings, removable mural materials, paste-up installations and other large-format photographic substrates suitable for the project.

5. Production and installation

Once the artwork and specifications are approved, the mural is produced to its final dimensions and installation requirements.

For larger or specialist projects, I can work with professional print and installation suppliers.

Murals for interiors

Photographic murals can work beautifully in:

Homes
Turn a meaningful photograph, landscape or artwork into a wall-scale piece rather than another framed picture.

Hospitality and accommodation
Create an image connected to the location, history or character of a restaurant, hotel, winery or other venue.

Workplaces
Commission artwork that gives an office or shared environment its own visual identity.

Architecture and interior design
Develop a photographic artwork specifically around the proportions, materials and visual language of an interior.

Heritage and cultural spaces
Bring archival photographs and historical material into contemporary environments at architectural scale.

Murals with a story

The most interesting mural isn’t necessarily the biggest photograph you can fit onto a wall.

It is the image that belongs there.

A family photograph can turn a domestic wall into an archive.

A portrait can give visibility to the people who make up a neighbourhood.

An old photograph can bring the history of a building back into the present.

A landscape can connect an interior to the place outside it.

That relationship between photography, memory and place is what interests me most.

About the artist

Aldona Kmieć is a Polish-Australian photographic artist based in Naarm/Melbourne, working across photography, cyanotype, installation and archival practice.

Her work explores memory, migration, belonging and place through both conceptual and documentary approaches.

Her photographic and public-art projects have included commissioned, participatory and site-responsive works, and her work is held in public, institutional and private collections.

Aldona maintains her studio at Montsalvat Arts Centre in Eltham, Melbourne.

Have a wall in mind?

If you’re considering a photographic mural, public artwork or site-specific photographic installation, send me:

• a photograph of the space
• approximate wall dimensions
• your location
• any photograph or archival material you’d like to use
• a brief description of the project
• your preferred timeframe

If you don’t yet have an image, that’s fine too. We can start with the space and develop the idea from there.

ENQUIRE ABOUT A PHOTOGRAPHIC MURAL →