Do it Yourself by Wade Taylor

This painting records a significant moment in Inglewood’s recent history, the 2018 blaze that engulfed the Bunnings Beaufort Street warehouse at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and Beaufort Street.

The artwork is part of a series of paintings Taylor has produced exploring the ‘Bunnings Inferno’ as subject matter emblematic of ‘what makes the news’, drawing inspiration from local sites, legends and events.

“On a warm February night in 2018, the Inglewood Bunnings went up in flames. It was an iconic branch and location, servicing the residents of the Perth city fringes, and known for being a darn sight smaller and understocked than your regular warehouse.

Working from my outdoor shed studio just a few blocks away, I could smell the acrid smoke and hear the explosions of gas cylinders, aerosols and whatever flammable materials were on those shelves. An accident or insurance job I’ll never know, but there’s a Woolworths there now…

The next day, I decided to paint the scene, gathered from various news footage and have created a few iterations of it since. This version, an imagined take on an evocative suburban nightmare.”                                                                                           – Wade Taylor, Artist