Sydney New Year's Eve official artist Nadia Hernández will bring the wonder of summer in Sydney and hope for the future to this year's celebrations across the city.
The Sydney-based visual artist has created eye-catching paper-cut designs that will be animated on the Sydney Harbour Bridge pylon projections, feature on banners across the city and inspire firework displays in the City of Sydney’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Central to the series of artworks are five featured words: wonder, radiate, hope, dance, and together.
"These are words that are celebratory, but also capture the essence of Sydney," Ms Hernández said.
"There is a great sense of unity about New Year's Eve and this is a message of hope for the future. It starts with everybody coming together to celebrate a new beginning with friends, family and complete strangers and wish each other a happy new year. It’s very powerful and very special."
"As well as the wonder of New Year's Eve and the fireworks that bring people together in celebration, I wanted to capture the energy of Sydney at that time of year – what it feels like to be in the city with daylight saving when summer has arrived, because that’s a really exciting time of year," Ms Hernández said.
The words will appear alongside images of native plants and animals, the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and Bondi Beach.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said New Year's Eve was a perfect time to work with a talented young artist like Nadia Hernández and a rare opportunity to collaborate on fireworks and spectacular effects.
"Nadia's stunning designs capture the sheer joy of Sydney’s summer," the Lord Mayor said.
"Her work is inspired by the colours and sounds of our flora and fauna, truly like nowhere else on earth.
"We first worked with Nadia on her fabulous mural 'To be free is to have no fear' in Loftus Lane behind Custom's House in 2015. I can't wait to see her ideas come to life on the biggest canvas in the world as part of our New Year's Eve celebrations.
"The fireworks will feature brand new shades, including bright orange, pink, lime green and light blue, and I know Nadia's bright and bold designs will be admired and enjoyed by millions of people here and around the world."
For Ms Hernández, becoming the creative inspiration for Sydney New Year's Eve celebrations is a dream come true, but one she thought would be decades in the making.
At the start of her creative career, she recalls driving through the city in the summer of 2013 and seeing the colourful New Year's Eve 'Shine' artwork of Reg Mombassa fluttering on street banners.
"I’ve always been a huge fan of his work and I remember seeing Reg Mombassa's New Year's artwork and thought it was such a wonderful collaboration. The first thing I thought was, ‘maybe in a few decades when I’ve established myself as an artist I’ll be able to do New Year’s Eve," Ms Hernández said.
Four years later the young artist best known for her colourful inner-city murals now finds herself fronting one of the biggest celebrations in Australia.
"I was looking at the inspiring individuals who have collaborated on New Year’s Eve and as an artist it was definitely a goal to join them, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon," Ms Hernández said.
"It’s overwhelming, it’s a massive honour and really exciting."
Visit sydneynewyearseve.com for detailed information on the event.
For more information and images, please contact Belinda Wallis, City of Sydney Senior Media Relations Advisor, on 0467 810 160 or bwallis@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
For interviews with Lord Mayor Clover Moore, please contact Julia Lenton on 0410 748 039 or email jlenton@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au