Art, acoustics and colour come together

More than 100 architects and designers gathered at Wilkhahn‘s Sydney showroom in Surry Hills last month as Woven Image officially launched its latest collaboration with Australian artist Ben Goss.

The evening marked the introduction of a new collection that translates Goss’ expressive paintings into a series of digitally printed EchoPanel® acoustic panels and murals, while also opening a broader conversation around the role of art within commercial interiors. Representatives from practices including Architectus, COX Architecture, Gray Puksand, DJAS, Cre8 and Hot Black joined the event.

Rather than presenting the collection through a conventional product launch, Woven Image centred the evening around a panel discussion examining the intersection of art, design and colour. Joining Goss were interior designer Pablo Albani and art curator Dr Felicity Fenner, with the conversation moderated by Dr Kirsten Brown.

Drawing on their respective disciplines, the panel explored how artwork can move beyond decoration to become an integral part of the built environment, shaping atmosphere, wellbeing and identity within workplaces and public interiors. The discussion also touched on colour as a design tool, and the increasing expectation that high-performing commercial products contribute to the emotional experience of a space as much as its technical performance.

The new collection demonstrates that balance. Based on Goss’ original artwork Where the Kookaburra Sits, the collaboration includes a large-scale mural alongside a series of complementary repeat patterns, each digitally printed onto Woven Image’s Australian-made EchoPanel®. The result brings together acoustic performance with a distinctly artistic expression, allowing designers to introduce colour, texture and visual depth without compromising functional requirements.

The partnership continues Woven Image’s longstanding approach of collaborating with Australian artists and designers, following previous collections developed with creatives including Mambo, Dinosaur Designs, Akira Isogawa and Minnie Pwerle. As the company approaches its 40th anniversary, the Ben Goss collection reinforces its ongoing interest in expanding the creative possibilities of acoustic materials.

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For those attending the launch, however, the evening extended beyond the products themselves. Conversations continued well after the panel concluded, with the showroom becoming a forum for discussing how art, architecture and interior design increasingly overlap in commercial practice. Rather than asking whether art belongs in the workplace, the discussion centred on how it can become part of the architecture itself.

The Ben Goss collection is available across Woven Image’s EchoPanel® range, offering designers a new way to combine acoustic performance with large-scale artistic expression.

Woven Image
wovenimage.com

Ben Goss
bengoss.com

Wilkhahn
wilkhahn.com