Goenpul/Yuggera artist Nathaniel Chapman's artwork exploring Country, healing and kinship has been unveiled on the eastern and western ends of QEII Hospital's new multi-level car park.
Mr Chapman created The Leaves Speak. The Trees Remember to reflect how people are held and cared for by Country.
Scaffolding was gradually removed over several weeks to reveal the work, which draws on gathering, healing and the passing of knowledge between generations.
Mr Chapman's work connects these practices with responsibility, care and kinship.
"The work maps out the quiet order of how we gather, how we heal, and how we pass knowledge forward," Mr Chapman said.
"The circles... are not just meeting points, they are markers of responsibility, care and kinship.
"The Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, and Emu Bush trees from Yagara country...have held our young ones through sickness, offered breath and rest from colds and soothed the sores that come from living upon our beautiful yet challenging lands."
His artwork reflects old ways that continue beneath the surface of a changing world, guiding hands and shaping identity and knowledge.
A stakeholder event on Friday, September 25 celebrated the work and its connection with the curatorial themes of place, healing and community.
Creating a welcoming, culturally safe environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients is a strategic priority under the Metro South Health First Nations Health Equity Strategy.
QEII Hospital executive director Rachel Phillips outlined how First Nations artwork would support that priority throughout the hospital expansion.
"This is the first artwork to be unveiled in our QEII Hospital Expansion and there will be several other First Nations artworks included to reinforce the message of cultural safety," she said.
Art also supports the social, health, economic and environmental benefits of infrastructure, contributing to community wellbeing.
Health Infrastructure Queensland senior director Jackie Hawkins acknowledged the partnership involved in integrating Mr Chapman's work into the building.
"Nathaniel's artwork is absolutely superb, and Damien from Built has worked in partnership with Blaklash and Nathaniel to guide the integration of the artwork with the product and the technicalities of construction," Ms Hawkins said.
Children's Health Queensland Arts in Health Program strategic lead Lynne Seear and her team work with Health Infrastructure Queensland on artwork integrations across construction projects in Queensland.
The program introduces artists as co-designers of health, with artwork developed to connect beauty and cultural safety.
Ms Seear described how these connections can help humanise health settings and reflect the communities they serve.
"Arts in Health helps us humanise environments that otherwise might heighten anxiety through telling stories and connecting explicitly and meaningfully to the communities the health sector serves," she said.
"That tie to the community is a key feature of the projects we work on - particularly amplified here where we observe the pride the community feels in their health service and how this is reciprocated by the people who deliver care within it."
Metro South Health acknowledged the collaboration supporting cultural safety and inclusion across the multi-level car park and Clinical Services Building.
Partners included Health Infrastructure Queensland, Built, MACE, eHealth, the Queensland Arts in Health Program, the Metro South Health Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Directorate, Mr Chapman and Blaklash.
