Kate Vassallo was commissioned by the ACT Government to create a public artwork for the Canberra Hospital’s new Critical Services Building. Titled Bloom, the artwork was curated by Creative Road.

Bloom began as a series of 38 acrylic paintings on canvas, applying layer after layer of watery thin paint to build up unique textures and complex colours. These were then digitised and fabricated as vinyl wall graphics, integrated into around 130 interior spaces within the hospital building.

Kate Vassallo’s practice is a labour of love, requiring time and significant mental and physical energy. Using abstract visual language, the artist evokes sensations of light, space, time, memory, and nostalgia—qualities that can be felt in her artwork Bloom.

Bloom began as a series of 38 acrylic paintings on canvas, applying layer after layer of watery thin paint to build up unique textures and complex colours. By highlighting the painted surface with gestural marks and a watery, saturated softness, the action of painting is quietly present.

Directional lines and shapes are intended to pull the viewer’s eye across space, never settling in any one place. The shifting quality of the artwork creates an ethereal atmosphere, transporting patients and staff away from the functional spaces surrounding them.

“Using colours from local flora as a starting point, I wanted to create an artwork that is hopeful, generous and optimistic. It is intended to have a calming sensory aura, gently encouraging a mental pause for those navigating the hospital building.” – Kate Vassallo, 2025. 

Informed by the unique context of Canberra and complementary to the interiors, the striking artwork provides a sense of beauty and care in otherwise clinical spaces. Through these works, the artist offers a calming sensory aura and opportunities for mindfulness and contemplation.

Experience more of Vassallo’s expansive public artwork here.