Creative Shape Shifter
Alison Page
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Come Closer
Alison Page
Creating a Place of Wonder
Public Art
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Project details
WESTMEAD, NSW | BURRAMATTAGAL
2026Artist: Alison Page
Client: Health Infrastructure
Project Team: City People, Uncle Colin Locke, Jamie Eastwood, Nepean Creative Arts School'Come Closer' transforms the hospital arrival experience into a moment of discovery, creating an immediate sense of welcome while inspiring curiosity, comfort and wonder for children and their families.
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Background
Located in the new state-of-the-art Wattle Building at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, the prominent artwork Come Closer forms part of the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network’s Arts, Play, Discovery Strategy. The strategy reimagines the role of art in healthcare, ensuring art and play are central to the patient experience and contribute to improved wellbeing and health outcomes.
Come Closer, by artist and designer Alison Page, is a defining feature of the hospital’s arrival experience. Designed to engage families, visitors, and staff, it invites curiosity and leads audiences on a whimsical journey through the foyer. A culturally significant expression of Country, culture, and community, the artwork is embedded with storytelling that fosters meaningful connections to people and place.
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Design Strategy
Alison Page’s inspiration for Come Closer stems from the ancient Sydney Blue Gum High Forest that once grew across Burramattagal Country, These forests were places of refuge for birds, bats, and owls and were cared for by the Burramattagal for thousands of years. Alison’s work aims to create the same sense of refuge and safety for the children and young people coming to the hospital.
In consultation with the hospital’s Aboriginal Health team, a local Dharug Elder, and Dharug artists, Alison designed the interactive, glowing light pods to represent the protective ancestral spirits that watched over the forests. Inside the pods are decorated ceramic gum nuts, painted by Aboriginal students from Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High School, and Dharug artists. By including the hand-painted gum nuts inside the pods, Alison honours the local ecology while referencing regeneration, growth, and healing. Ultimately, her goal was to peel back the urban layers of modern Sydney and bring the ancient First Nations memories of Country into the hospital to offer comfort, connection, and wellbeing to families.
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Tilt Services
Tilt supported Alison throughout the project, providing technical expertise and creative guidance from concept development through to installation. Early collaboration focused on refining the artistic vision and resolving the technical challenges associated with integrating diverse materials, fabrication processes and interactive elements.
Detailed prototyping was undertaken to validate finishes, lighting integration and user interaction, ensuring the artwork maintained its visual intent and cultural expression while meeting technical requirements.
Tilt developed comprehensive CAD models and assembly documentation to coordinate the complex relationship between cast bronze components, machined acrylic elements, ceramic forms, integrated electrical systems and bespoke support structures. This rigorous design and documentation process enabled the seamless translation of the artist’s vision into a robust, enduring and highly engaging public artwork.
- Project Consultation
- Detailed Design inc. prototyping, CAD, structural engineering review and certification, construction documentation
- Fabrication inc. shop drawings and procurement
- Installation, site documentation and handover
- Project Management
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Outcome
Come Closer creates a welcoming and culturally safe environment at the hospital for children, young people, their families, and staff. Through the integration of art and storytelling, the arrival experience is transformed into a moment of wonder and discovery, demonstrating the important role that art can play in supporting wellbeing and recovery.
The project highlights the power of collaboration between artist, client, community and technical delivery team, bringing together creative vision and technical expertise to deliver lasting cultural and social impact through enriching the hospital experience.
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“Going into a hospital can be scary. Seeing artwork on the walls tells kids it’s going to be okay.”
April, 15, Student, Nepean Creative & Performing Arts High School
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