The mural, painted by Xander Rood (aka Amok Island), is called Red Tailed Black Cockatoos. It's inspired by the unique abundance of native flora and fauna, in particular the many different varieties of native birds, found at Murdoch University’s South Street campus.   

Watch Xander’s process through this time-lapse! 

The theme of natural exploration and conservation is a strong and constant undercurrent of Xander’s artistic practice. His lifelong fascination with nature and its relationships and history with humankind drive his obvious appreciation of his subjects and the urge to direct the attention of his audience to them.   

The artist's work pursues a point of balance where minimal shape and colour remain capable of realistically representing a subject. To accomplish this, Xander renders his subjects to near bare minimum geometric elements of form, and places paramount importance on the use of a carefully considered colour palette.

About Xander Rood (aka Amok Island) 

Xander is a multi-disciplinary artist from the Netherlands, who resides in Fremantle, Western Australia. He has created murals in over 25 countries worldwide and exhibited his work in Australia, the Netherlands and Japan. 

He has previously created three murals for Murdoch a few years ago. These murals are at each of the myMurdoch Advice Hubs at our South Street Campus.  

If he were not an artist, Xander thinks he would be a biologist. Heavily inspired by early naturalists’ scientific illustrations, his work embodies the accuracy and precision representative of technical drawings, used for identification purposes.