Brian Robinson’s Multiverse at Newcastle Art Gallery
Image credit: Portrait of Brian Robinson. Photo: Peter Stoop.
Brian Robinson’s extensive practice manifests itself in Multiverse, a visual accumulation of his mythological investigations. Housed at the Newcastle Art Gallery, the exhibition stands as an immersive tapestry of the artistic and ideological investigations of the Cairns-based Torres Strait Islander artist.
Robinson (b. 1973) is a key figure in the Cairns art scene through a multiplicity of public art installations, yet has also been celebrated globally across shows in Berlin, Utrecht, New York City, Washington DC and more. Robinson trained in curatorship under the 1997 Museums Australia Curatorial Internship program and was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Queensland Art Gallery in 1999. Robinson was the first Torres Strait Islander to undertake eithereither role.
As the name suggests, Multiverse aims to confront the viewer with their own perceptions of history and narrative through installation, print and sculpture.
Robinson grew up on Waiben (Thursday Island) in the Torres Strait. Influenced by both Maluyligal and Wuthathi cultural heritages, he speaks of the cultural crossroads that inspired his creative practice from a very young age, from cartoons and fishing practices to Roman Catholic Renaissance work. This vast field of influence materialises in Multiverse through a collision of mythology and imagery.
The Torres Strait hosts a rich body of folklore that has providedd Robinson with a foundation for exploring how myth, symbolism and storytelling shape collective understandings of the natural, spiritual and cosmological worlds. From these Torres Strait mythologies, his research grew into Greek and Roman Catholic lore, tracing the shared archetypes and symbolic languages that emerge across cultures and belief systems. In Multiverse, these mythological frameworks are brought into dialogue, not as separate traditions, but as interconnected ways of interpreting reality through shared archetypes, symbols and stories.
Image credit: Installation view, Multiverse, Newcastle Art Gallery, Australia, 2026. Photo: Jedd Cranfield.
Across the gallery, Robinson has crafted an immersive visual universe where mythology, memory and imagination unfold. A mixture of striking colours and bold shapes, in an almost storybook fashion, weaves throughout with cosmological mapping. Multiverse creates a playful environment that mimics his childhood love of cartoons and video games, which emerge as fun motifs. In contrast, Robinson blends dark celestial cartography with bursting, vivid gardens, tying the exhibition back to the significance of Country. This interplay between the cosmic and the earthly allows Robinson to move fluidly between humour, spirituality and cultural reflection. While the exhibition carries a youthful sense of play and expansiveness, it is equally driven by a deeper consideration of how mythologies are formed, shared and continually reimagined. In embracing the imaginative energy at the core of storytelling, Robinson creates a world that feels both deeply personal and open to endless possibility.
The show presents the range of Robinson’s creative practice, from installation rooms to curated gallery spaces of sculpture and print. Many may recognise the inclusion of Robinson’s first installation piece, which premiered in the 2023 RISING festival:, Zugubal: The winds and the tides set the pace (2023/26), an immersive work that literally wraps the audience in the story of celestial Islander mythology. The vast scale of the digital installation only contributes further to the engrossing visual-audial landscape Robinson has created. Depictions of powerful Zugubal spirits, traditionally known to dictate environmental rhythm across the Torres Strait Islands, embedded among the virtual mural, create a luminous collision of old and new. The piece represents the contemporary vivacity of myth: not a stagnant history, but a prevalent philosophy. Robinson calls for the reinvigoration of these stories, remembering their moral and societal significance instead of viewing them as merely symbolic.
Robinson’s research is further unique through his collaboration of colonial and Indigenous knowledge systems. Through the exploration of myth, Robinson speaks of the significant role both Catholic and Torres Strait philosophy played in his practice. The aesthetics of the Renaissance are noticeable across Multiverse as Robinson experiments with structural patterns and bold colours mimicking those of Romanesque stained glass, while sustaining a thread of prominent Island iconography and geological symbolism. The magic gardens of Multiverse emulate this, with their vibrant, large-scale colours in homage to the abundance of Country, contrasting with the structural and monochrome mineral block prints that underpin the exhibition. Flashes of red and blue flower out of the concrete exhibition floor as blossoms of the repeated pattern motifs, injecting life into the room.
Image credit: Installation view, Multiverse, Newcastle Art Gallery, Australia, 2026. Photo: Jedd Cranfield.
Robinson’s collision of mythological symbolism is not only visually engaging, but also worth exploring as a prime example of contemporary First Nations practice. He explains: “I’m not classed as a traditional Indigenous artist: I look at concepts and themes that often remove me from Indigenous arts practice and place my creative output within the contemporary arts realm.” Robinson acknowledges that his practice strays from what is expected from traditional First Nations work yet legitimises a personal exploration. Multiverse defends Robinson’s compilation of mythology and lore as authentically his own. The immersive nature of the exhibition requests the viewer to do the same: to curate their own history, meaning and sense of self. Perhaps this is one of the most potent themes of contemporary First Nations art: that there is no right way to display Indigenous experience. Robinson legitimises the cultural crossroads that his upbringing and own creative practice have brought him to, and explores this through a visceral expansion of narrative.
The Newcastle Art Gallery frequently fosters this expansion of how we can conceptualise First Nations work, such as the exhibition Iconic, Loved, Unexpected, coinciding with Robinson’s Multiverse since February 28. The exhibition seeks to display the multifaceted genre that is First Nations art, and calls for the viewer to leave behind their expectations for First Nations artists.
Crafting a space that evokes such a range of thought processes, of myth, personal identities and cosmological placement, Robinson has achieved a great feat within Multiverse, encapsulating his creative practice and pioneering First Nations art.
Brian Robinson: Multiverse is on display at Newcastle Art Gallery until 30 August 2026.
newcastleartgallery.nsw.gov.au
