Curatorial+Co. is proud to unveil a newly completed Art Consultancy project for Bombies at Harbord Hotel, Freshwater NSW, in collaboration with architecture and interior design firm, Alexander &CO.
Spanning 27m², the mural by First Nations and Hungarian artist Tiarna Herczeg is situated on Level 1 of the venue, known as ‘The GIG Room’, a dynamic new space designed for live music, dancing, and celebration. Just moments from the beach, Herczeg’s mural draws from Freshwater’s laid-back coastal atmosphere while responding to the edgy, unpredictable spirit of the interiors.
Working with a deep, earthy palette of burgundy, ochre, and yellow, Herczeg brings her signature gestural brushwork and intuitive, process-led approach to the space. Her mural sits seamlessly against Bombies’ raw materiality of bricks, concrete, olive-toned tiling, and terrazzo, echoing the venue’s balance of heritage and edge.
Emerging from her Yalanji/Kuku Nyungkul heritage, Herczeg’s work is rooted in ancestral memory, knowledge and deep connection to Country. She views painting as a ritual – one that unfolds through movement and feeling, rather than preconceived outcomes. Her intuitive gestures are inherited – carried through generations, land, and lived experience. Her work becomes a conversation between memory and place, body and land, silence and sound.
Says Herczeg of this artwork, “This mural is a gesture to memory and place – blending the coastal warmth of the Northern Beaches with abstracted rainforest forms drawn from my Kuku Yalanji lineage. The fluid botanical shapes speak to an inherited rhythm of land, light, and movement.”
Themes of home, identity and cultural memory surface through texture, colour, and rhythm. Herczeg’s mural is both grounding and expansive, offering a vivid, ambient counterpoint to the energetic social setting of Bombies.
PROJECT: BOMBIES AT HARBORD HOTEL, FRESHWATER NSW
ARTIST: TIARNA HERCZEG
CLIENT: ALEXANDER &CO.
PHOTOGRAPHY: JESSICA NASH
