Karl Meyer, Adelaide Airport

Image: Karl Meyer, Hooroo. Photograph Lana Adams.

This work reimagines the kangaroo, blending playful distortion with a critique of commodification. Handles transform these iconic creatures into objects of utility —suggesting portability and ownership —while their inflated forms exaggerate their presence, making them both familiar and surreal.

The handles invite interaction, acting as both a practical addition and a symbolic gesture —taming the wild, framing the iconic, and turning a living creature into a functional, almost absurd object. The forms reflect how cultural symbols are stretched and repackaged, their meaning inflated to the point of absurdity.

Through these exaggerated yet inviting forms, I explore the evolving relationship between identity, tourism, and the ways we frame and consume our national symbols.

The artwork was commissioned by Adelaide Airport and delivered by Guildhouse.

Artist Biography:

Karl Meyer is an Adelaide based artist and designer, recognised for creating original works that are whimsical and thought provoking.

Karl’s enthusiasm for art and design arises from engaging in the development process, from initial concepts to final outcomes. A fascination with the evolution of ideas and how they influence people and environments led Karl to study Industrial Design in the early 1990’s. He has blended his art practice with his proficiency as an industrial designer since 1993 and has a reputation for bringing originality to his approaches, encouraging engagement, interaction and a sense of curiosity to his work.

Karl uses sculpture as a medium to engage people within the environment, stirring imagination and giving viewers pause to reflect on their surroundings.

Images: Karl Meyer, Adelaide Airport artwork Concept Design

Images: Karl Meyer, Hooroo. Photographs Lana Adams.

Guildhouse Professional Services

Guildhouse Professional Services (GPS) is a South Australian leading public art consultancy, delivering end-to-end services for major public and commercial projects.

Established as Guildhouse’s social enterprise, GPS combines contemporary public art expertise with the governance strength of Guildhouse, the state’s peak visual arts body with over 60 years’ experience and membership base of over 1,200 artists, designers and craft practitioners.