Soap Suds Lane Mural

Soap Suds Lane Mural is a vibrant large-scale work by artist Bronte Naylor. This work was commissioned as part of the Living Laneways project, a NSW Government, Streets as Shared Spaces grant from the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment. Designed as a covid response action plan, this program intended to bring new life, community interaction, a heightened sense of morale and a boost to local economy through the activation of spaces for Singleton and other regional NSW towns. 

This site-specific work is a kind of visual story telling project that references the local legends of this inner suburban laneway. This ‘remembered history’ as Naylor described it, is one that has been ‘passed down through generations’ according to Naylor who spent time canvassing the local community and historical archives for the inspiration for this visual narrative. A story rich in tales of’ local tussles, bubbles from washing clothes, and the detail of a wrinkled sheet that used to hang to dry’ as described by Naylor.

The lane way it seems, was home to a washhouse or ‘Chinese laundry’ as it was known, with locals recalling the way that residents of the laundry would discard their soapy water onto the laneway causing a soapy river Not only was the site a place for domestic service it was the backdrop of a many backyard brawls! The laneway was reputed to be a popular meeting place for local men to sort out their differences with a little bare-knuckled fighting!

Vibrant and layered Naylor describes her work as a ‘collage (of) overlapping shapes, ambitious and abstract details with gradients of slighting changing colours’. A seasoned muralist the artist is no stranger to depicting and interpreting the culture stories and people of a place and then translating it into masterful works of Public Art.

Bronte’s impressive work history has seen her work within Public Art at a local, national, and international level with commissions for Cairns, Port Kembla, Brisbane, Newcastle and also within a busy urban Indian city. Her artistic practice has seen her build an extensive exhibition portfolio with some notable achievements being her taking Runner up for Maitland Regional Galleries Brenda Clouton Memorial Art Scholarship and most recently with Naylor taking her hand to curation with a group exhibition being shown at the University of Newcastle Gallery.

For further information and enquiries contact: Brontë Naylor (bronte-naylor.com) or @brontenaylor.