WA artist is keeping it surreal

Based in Western Australia, Jarrad said he wanted to broaden his horizons and so chose Rochester for a new experience.

‘‘I’ve wanted to travel a bit more and I want to paint more murals as opposed to studio practice, which is what I usually do,’’ he said.

‘‘I’ve painted at some festivals but it’ll be good to take my time for a mural of this size.’’

But it will be somewhat of a flying visit as he’s staying for the week before heading back to Western Australia to paint more murals on walls.

Nevertheless he’s looking forward to coming to Rochester for the week and seeing just how well his research stacks up.

‘‘Seeing as I haven’t been to Rochester before, I’ve been looking up information and events on the town — the farming, the floods and the shifting weather patterns,’’ he said.

‘‘I try and take aspects of my practice and aspects of the location for the mural.

‘‘And so the mural talks about how much the region is controlled by the weather and the outdoor labourers whose work depends on it.’’

And as festival organiser Val Gledhill said last week, there are vastly different entries — with Jarrad’s being one of those.

‘‘It’s not as traditional as past entries,’’ he said. ‘‘I was surprised to be picked as it’s more surreal than a lot of the others.’’