Mornington Peninsula Shire is excited to announce local Hastings artist Matt Burgess will create a series of photographic works for the new Yawa Aquatic Centre.
Mr Burgess was selected after a comprehensive EOI process in November.
His photographic works will be displayed on a prominent wall within the entrance of the Aquatic Centre at project completion in March 2021 for 12 months.
Growing up on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Mr Burgess started surfing from a young age, joining the Australian Army at age 17 and was deployed overseas to places such as Iraq, East Timor the Solomon Islands.
Mr Burgess was living in Perth when he noticed the subtle intricacies of the ocean and put the surfboard aside to capture these moments with a camera.
Fast forward a decade, Mr Burgess has been featured in many magazines, books and the Australian Newspaper and has been living on the Mornington Peninsula for the past five years.
Mr Burgess enjoys the laidback lifestyle of the Peninsula and the challenging moody conditions that come with living on the Bass Strait.
Mr Burgess' work can be seen at mattburgessphoto.com or on Instagram (@matt_burgess_photo).
To keep up to date with the progress of Yawa Aquatic Centre, visit mornpen.vic.gov.au/yawa.
As stated by Mayor Councillor Despi O'Connor:
"Yawa means 'to swim' in the local Indigenous language and the new Aquatic Centre brand draws inspiration from the waterways surrounding the Peninsula. I'm excited to see Matt's reflection of these waterways displayed on the walls of Yawa next year!"
As stated by Matt Burgess:
"I am humbled by being nominated to produce photographic works for the YAWA aquatic centre. It's truly an honour and I am very grateful. I work at shooting photographs that make the viewer think and see things that happen in a millisecond that we all take for granted in the best playground on earth, the ocean."
