Rose Nolan - YOU/ME/US/HERE/NOW, Hallam Train Station, Hallam

T Projects commissioned artist Rose Nolan for this playful work that turns the underside of a rail bridge into a striking landmark.

The giant painted words YOU ME US HERE NOW evoke the vibe of busy commuters at the new Hallam railway station, which is on and under the bridge. It draws on the notion of shared journeys experience of travel and movement, using the literal concept of transport connections (elevated parallel tracks, shared platforms, timetables) to consider the more abstract idea of connections to people, place, culture, past and present.

The work is open, positive and bold. The text follows the underside of the railway viaducts in both directions, because most people’s daily commute is in both directions. It integrates into the architectural design as a major feature of a new public space leading to the station and acknowledges the station’s significance in its community.

“The big bold words aim to engage visitors, to open-up a conversation with them, and to reflect on ways of being with each other in the world… The opportunity to play with scale – to see my small intimate working models realised on a large scale – is always exciting and surprising for me. This often requires working in collaboration with other people with different skills and expertise which is a great learning opportunity.”

— Rose Nolan

Rose Nolan

Rose Nolan lives in Melbourne and works across painting, installation, sculpture, photography, prints and book production. Her practice regularly oscillates between the intimate and the monumental, often informed by a strong interest in architecture, interior and graphic design – combining formal concerns with the legacies of modernism. Her work is known for its attention to the formal and linguistic qualities of words, using language to transform architectural space. By making language concrete, meaning is asserted.

Rose typically uses a radically reduced palette of red and white, and simple utilitarian materials and methods, in an exploration of personal, playful and often self-effacing narratives. Each work describes a concern for economy; a desire to be responsive to site; an interest in seriality and repetition; and the importance of language, interactivity, and the experience of the viewer.