Nadine Schmoll

Nadine Schmoll, Living Together (Circle), 2024. Waste plastic, algae

Nadine Schmoll, 2024. Archival print on paper

These photographs document four trees on the banks of Cubberla Creek, in an effort to reconcile my childhood memories of this place with an adult understanding of the challenges facing our natural environment. 

Cubberla Creek lies in the midst of the Western suburbs in Meanjin/Brisbane, down the road from my childhood home. As kids we would venture down to the creek to play and peer into the water, looking for fish or turtles and dreaming of platypus. Most of the riparian zone along the creek has long been exposed and overrun with weeds, vulnerable to erosion and flooding. Local bushcare groups have been regenerating this area for many years and slowly the native vegetation is growing back. 

The intention to conserve and protect is manifested in the use of repurposed plastic packaging, conventionally employed to cushion fragile items, here a temporary wrapping of the landscape. I was inspired by the “wrapped” environmental projects undertaken by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude since the 1960s.

Nadine Schmoll, 2024. Waste plastic, timber, plastic, LEDs

Water - Vessels - Light is a colony of larger-than-life coral polyps, tiny individual animals related to jellyfish that together build coral reefs. Forms are made by sculpting and carving waste polyethylene with heat, water and sand.

Just as corals form symbiotic relationships to ensure their survival, ours is a shared responsibility to protect and preserve our natural environment. These vessels symbolise the latent potential inside each of us to create positive change and champion sustainability. Reflecting on our actions transforms simple, waste materials into repositories of hope for an alternative system that values the earth’s gifts more deeply.

Wunderpeach (Tessie Liddell and Nadine Schmoll), A Coral is Born, 2023. Animation. 3:59 minutes


This project is supported by the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF). RADF is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Logan City Council to support arts and culture in regional Queensland.

Nadine Schmoll, Interconnected: Self Portrait as Coral, 2022. Archival print on canvas with augmented reality experience

Imagine a future wherein humans value and respect the inherent qualities of plants and animals, and interspecies relationships are based on a system that values reciprocity and interdependence.

Scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) are investigating the connections between corals and fish to determine if this partnership can speed the growth of coral reefs. Broadcasting ‘reef songs’ underwater to attract baby fish to degraded areas may help corals recover from the effects of climate change.

With thanks to Dr Miles Parsons, Dr Mark Meekan and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Nadine Schmoll, Living Together, 2023. Waste plastic, algae, timber, metal. Photo: Kerrie Pallin


Living Together is an ephemeral homage to symbiosis, a biological relationship found in corals, made collaboratively with community. Embodying a colony of larger-than-life coral polyps, forms are made by sculpting waste polyethylene with heat, water and sand. An algal pigment fades over time through exposure to sunlight, just as corals bleach when their symbiotic algae is expelled.

This artwork prompts the viewer to observe symbiotic relationships in nature for answers to our world’s environmental challenges. How can we live together with animals and plants in more mutually beneficial relationships?

Nadine Schmoll, River, 2023. LED neon, waste polyethylene, sand, fabric, algae, mirror. Photo: Louis Lim


Lit in neon blue, the Brisbane River traces the passage of waste from its source in our communities, out to Moreton Bay and beyond. Biomorphic forms sculpted from heat, water and sand lie on the banks of the river, evoking plant life and human settlements.

This work highlights the connections between the waste we throw away in our local areas and its impact on our water environments, transiting from creek and river systems on its way to the sea.

Sculptural vessels symbolises the latent potential inside each of us to create positive change and our shared responsibility to care for the environment. Reflecting on our actions transforms simple, waste materials into repositories of hope for an alternative system that values the earth’s gifts more deeply.

Commissioned by Mirvac for National Recycling Week.

Jane Du Rand and Nadine Schmoll, Polyethelene keramikos, 2019. Polyethelene, ceramic, light fitting. 45cm x 45cm


Polyethylene keramikos is a collaborative work that fuses fine art ceramics with contemporary plastic sculpture to shed light on plant, animal and human interconnections. A fascination with the natural world compels us to explore both art and science. Despite the delicate balance that exists between lifeforms and the global environmental challenges caused by humans, nature continuously surprises us with its resilience and tenacity to survive.

In response to rising sea temperatures, some corals have evolved to produce their own natural sunscreen, expressed as a fluorescent pigment. Made of both plant and animal living together in partnership, corals represent a mutually beneficial ecosystem that we as humans can learn from.

This work explores symbiosis by pairing two disparate materials to complement the other. Ceramic polyps are hand formed, glazed and fired, then encased in hard exoskeletons of plastic bottles collected from the waste stream, which are also moulded and shaped by heat.

Nadine Schmoll, Microbes Floating in a Sea (series I-VI), 2019. Archival print on acrylic


Organic shapes are heat formed from waste plastic bottles, then photographed on light to evoke the beauty and fragility of microorganisms.

Kuweni Dias Mendes and Nadine Schmoll, Lotus Flower (Forest Lake), 2022. Waste plastic and metal, seeds and legumes, spices, mirror, ribbon


The most celebrated cultural event in India, Diwali spreads its luminosity across the globe. The annual festival is commonly known as the ‘festival of lights’ and signifies the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil.

The lotus flower signifies prosperity and wealth. This rangoli in particular connects and embraces the Forest Lake community and in-centre retailers at Forest Lake Shopping Centre through locally sourced materials.

A mixture of organic and recycled materials that are usually discarded or viewed as unappealing are brought together to create a beautiful lotus in bloom.

Nadine Schmoll, Coral Fluorescence, 2021. Waste plastic, PVC, dye, LED lights


Coral Fluorescence explores the impact of plastic waste and climate change on our marine environment. Translucent coral polyps shine with fluorescence at night, a phenomenon some corals exhibit to protect themselves from rising sea temperatures.

The world as we know it is changing in response to global pressures. How can nature guide us to create more mutually beneficial relationships between ourselves and the world around us?

This artwork is made by hand sculpting and dyeing single use plastic bottles into coral polyp forms, lit from within by solar powered LEDs.

Jane Du Rand and Nadine Schmoll, Urban Rainforest, 2017. Waste plastic, ceramic, acrylic, mirror


Artists in Residence Nadine Schmoll and Jane Du Rand collaborated with Oakleigh State School to create a rainforest-themed mural across 13 columns. Each column highlighted a plant and animal relationship, such as the symbiosis between the Birdwing Butterfly Vine and the Birdwing Butterfly, or the Coxen’s Fig Parrot and the Moreton Bay Fig.

Students from prep to year six participated in multiple workshops on painting, ceramics and environmental sculpture using waste materials.

Nadine Schmoll, Bloom, 2022. Archival print on canvas


The physiological plasticity of jellyfish – their ability to respond to different conditions in different ways and thereby increase their chances of survival – makes them the ultimate survivors. Prehistoric predators dating back millions of years, jellyfish can survive and thrive in even the harshest of conditions, outcompeting other species in their pursuit of resources.

Where fish, mammals and bird life suffer due to human induced pressures on our marine environment, jellyfish can be found in vast numbers. These jellyfish “blooms” serve as an early warning signal that the marine ecosystem is out of balance.

Nadine Schmoll, Colony, 2020. Waste plastic, metal


I am interested in the interrelationships between the natural environment and humans in the context of the global impacts of climate change and plastic pollution. Nature displays characteristics which we can learn from to create more beneficial relationships between ourselves and the world around us.

Patterns such as grids, networks and tessellations are designed to maximise connections. Hexagons in a honeycomb allow bees to use space efficiently and maximise the volume of honey that bees can store while using the minimum material to make the structure itself.

This installation uses waste plastic bottles collected by the community. Each bottle forms a cell, filling the empty space between natural features of the landscape and reminding us that we are one of many.

Building connections, maximising efficiency and minimising resource use are qualities we need now more than ever to strengthen our own resilience and that of our natural environment.

Nadine Schmoll, West End Flora, 2021. Waste plastic, tiles, bricks

West End Flora is a collaborative street art project set in the inner-city suburb of West End that engages the local community on native flora species, inspiring them to explore their own neighbourhood and (re)connect with the natural environment. This is particularly pertinent in the inner-city context where the challenges of density and urban development have put pressure on green urban spaces.

Each artwork features a flower native to South East Queensland and is made sustainably using waste materials such as discarded building materials and plastic. The project included an exhibition and community workshop held at House Conspiracy on World Environment Day (Saturday 5th June 2021).

An interactive map provides the location and information on each flower, with detailed species photography provided by the Queensland Museum publication, Wild Plants of Greater Brisbane, published by the Museum in partnership with the Queensland Herbarium and Brisbane City Council.

Nadine Schmoll, Cnidarian Bubble Dress, 2018. Waste plastic, LED lights, upcycled dress


The Cnidarian Bubble Dress is a sustainable take on UK designer Hussain Chalayan’s Bubble Dress from his Spring 2007 runway show, and the Bubble Dress which Lady Gaga later recreated.

This garment is a fun and playful exploration on the impact of plastic and climate change on our marine environment. A colony of coral polyps is formed by heating plastic bottles around a mould, then applying texture with a soldering iron. This process references a disease called white syndromes which scientists attribute to plastic waste when it entangles itself and envelopes corals. LED lights shine like fluorescence, a phenomenon that corals excrete as a sunscreen, to protect themselves from rising sea temperatures.

Commissioned by Brisbane City Council for World Environment Day 2018.