Inside artist Jumaadi’s visions for ‘Upside-Down Garden’
We chat with the artist about the inspiration behind his zen-like garden, working with metal, and building a peaceful space in the business precinct
By 
AMID THE NOISE of Barangaroo – the hum of surrounding commerce, gaggles of tourists, honking traffic, incoming and outgoing ferries – artist Jumaadi sought to create “a little chapel” with Upside-Down Garden, his first public work ever. The ambitious seven-piece assemblage is situated on the ceiling of a walkway tunnel at International House in Barangaroo South, depicting his renowned dreamscapes that reflect the harbour and botany surrounding the precinct, but imagined turned on its head. Rendered in heavy metal, a twist from his usual textiles and paper that make his work approachable and compact, Jumaadi likened the installation to a feat of engineering; he was approached by Lendlease with the commission five years ago, who equipped the artist with the architects and engineers needed to pull off Upside-Down Garden.
Below, the artist chats with Esquire about the inspiration around the work, his personal histories with the site, and how to experience his garden to full effect.
On turning Sydney Harbour upside-down
“I was very much interested with the idea of imagining Sydney Harbour tipped upside down, and what was in the bottom of the sea was becoming the roof or top part of the ceiling. And I was also imagining that it would be like an archeological, underwater garden [to explore] memory and history that has taken shape in the harbour, and how biodiversity [grew] alongside human migration. I looked at the Botanical Garden as a development, as well as a key historical site around the harbour, including the whaling site on Mosman.
I’ve been working in Mosman for a number of years since 2008, so one of the original sparks of the idea was the whaling station there. Whaling [conjures] blood and colour, but also the skeleton, the soul and the spirit of this huge mammal – the unseen, the ghost of it.”
On working through the concept during the pandemic
“The work was being truthful to the drawing, but with this very rigid, heavy, and cooling material – it was very close to like engineering, which was a long struggle and a lot of resources went into it. Even from both sides, like, how can we maintain the intricacies and sensitive lines of drawing?
The work was [conceptualised] during the [pandemic] isolation period, and where we were going to progress with the planning or the ideas. We always knew that it would be a metal installation, so a lot of ornamental, a lot of complex fabrications, heavyweight and engineering and all of those. And then during the pandemic and after the pandemic, the price of metal was going up. But also mentally, we were isolated, including myself; the idea was to also to create some of the work in my studio in Indonesia. And it’s coming from a lot more flora and science, and then we simplified it or reduced the amount by combining and hybridising imagery in terms of shaping the design.”
On creating a zen-like garden for the area
“We imagined that this was a shallow tunnel. And I was also imagining that a lot of people from big companies and the economy working in the area and living in the area, but also a lot of traffic. And so I was imagining Upside-Down Garden as a kind of little chapel, actually, with a strong symbolism, in terms of the sculpture. And with a chapel, we were thinking of it like a refuge and shelter – the idea of a garden itself, a zen garden.”
Upside-Down Garden is on view at International House in Barangaroo South.
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