New Textile Designs by Aboriginal Artist Helena Geiger
Office Line is a proudly Australian-owned company that has been producing cutting-edge classroom and office furniture for over 30 years. Our extensive range of desks, chairs and stools, classroom storage, and other furnishings and accessories can be found in educational and commercial settings right across Australia.
We often receive enquiries about the various types of finishes available for our furniture from customers on the hunt for something unique for their project. We are pleased to announce that we have recently collaborated on a new range of textiles with Indigenous Australian artist Helena Geiger. In this blog, we’ll introduce you to Helena and her distinctive textiles inspired by the Australian natural landscape.
About Helena Geiger
Helena Geiger is an Indigenous Australian visual artist born in Sydney. She is of Gumbaynggir descent, an Indigenous group from the Mid North Coast of NSW. For the last 20 years, she has specialised in the production of textiles, using techniques such as Batik, Shibori, and various hand painting and dip dying techniques to create unique textures and patterns for the furnishing and printing industries.
Helena’s work has appeared in exhibitions across Australia, including the Aboriginal Art Prize at Parliament house in Sydney, the Samjjana Global Gallery in Paddington, and Tjungu Festival at Uluru. The Flinders University Art Museum in South Australia purchased her work as part of their permanent collection.
Textiles by Helena Geiger
Helena’s textile art draws its inspiration from specific Australian settings, using the colours, textures, and patterns she observes to create evocative, organic designs that are unmistakably Australian.
Her Cooroong series is influenced by the natural beauty of the Cooroong region of South Australia, a coastal area where the Murray River meets the Southern Ocean. Renowned for its native wildlife and unspoiled coastline, the Cooroong is recognised under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance.
Helena’s design is inspired by the “sweeping sand dunes, spinifex and saltwater rock pools” of this region, with a repeating pattern reminiscent at once of animal tracks along a beach, winding streams, and rippling reflections in water.
For her Karlu designs, Helena found inspiration in the Karlu Karlu site in Alice Springs, also known as the Devil’s Marbles. This spectacular landmark consists of enormous boulders that glow deep red, particularly in the early mornings and evenings. The site has become known around the world and is a popular tourist attraction for those visiting the Australian outback. It is a sacred site of great cultural significance for numerous Indigenous groups. Helena’s Karlu design takes its cues from the irregular shapes of the boulders and is available in a range of colours including Tawny, Sandstone, Earth, Lapis, and Bluestone.
These are just two examples of the textiles Helena has created. Her full catalog includes designs influenced by Australia’s lagoons, rain forests, sand hills, and natural elements such as tiger’s eye. You can check more about aboriginal and indigenous fabric textile collection by another artist Rosie Paine inspired by the landscape and colours of Western Australia.
Why Choose Office Line?
With over 30 years’ experience delivering high-quality classroom furnishings, the team at Office Line understands on a deep level the needs of the education sector. We know the importance of the learning environment to the success of any educational endeavor, and we pride ourselves on delivering a professional, personalised service.
Contact Us Today
If you would like to find out more about our new range of textiles or any of our other products, head to the contact section of our website to get in touch by phone or email.- Ammad Khan