Internationally acclaimed British‑Indian artist Bharti Kher has been commissioned by Powerhouse Parramatta to create a major new public artwork for the museum’s upcoming cultural campus in Western Sydney. The sculpture, titled Tree of Life, will form a central outdoor feature at the Parramatta site when the museum opens to the public.
The commission will take the form of a monumental bronze sculpture standing over seven metres tall, composed of a vertical stack of heads that evoke themes of ancestral memory, community, and collective identity. Drawing on Kher’s long‑standing interest in ritual, myth, and the body, the work will anchor the entrance area of the new Powerhouse Parramatta building, positioning it as both a visual landmark and a contemplative space for visitors.
Kher, who has worked across painting, sculpture, and installation for more than three decades, is known for reconfiguring everyday materials and symbols into unsettling yet poetic forms. Her use of the bindi, textiles, and fragmented body parts has established a distinct visual language that questions boundaries between self and other, private and public. With Tree of Life, she extends this vocabulary into the realm of large‑scale public sculpture, aligning with Powerhouse’s aim to foreground diverse cultural narratives and lived experiences in its programming.
The commission marks one of the most significant public art projects in Parramatta in recent years, and will sit alongside other site‑specific commissions and exhibitions at Powerhouse Parramatta. Tree of Life is expected to be unveiled in conjunction with the museum’s opening, reinforcing the institution’s role as a hub for contemporary art, design, and community engagement in Western Sydney.
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