OFF THE WALL: THE RISE OF TEXTURED ART
From woven fibres to sculpted metal and clay, textural wall art is redefining high-end living spaces with depth, tactility and light.
4 min
In 2026, home interior trends are predicted to reflect our growing need for warmth, comfort and personal expression: a response, perhaps, to the fast-paced, always-on lifestyle many of us feel forced to embrace.
And where better to start than the four walls that define your living space? Unlike flat prints and traditional paintings, textured art invites engagement, creating a dynamic ambience in living rooms, bedrooms and outdoor entertaining spaces.
Interior designers are increasingly looking to create a multi-sensory experience, and wall art is a key part of that: blending art and sculpture, creating a focal point, and showcasing changing light patterns throughout the day.
Weaving ways
Sydney-based fibre artist Catriona Pollard uses traditional techniques to transform foraged plant fibres and recycled materials into evocative, sculptural works.
“I discovered weaving more than a decade ago, at a time when I was searching for a slower, more mindful way of creating,” she says.
“I had been working in a very fast-paced environment, and weaving became a way to reconnect with myself and with nature.”
Much of Pollard’s inspiration comes directly from the Australian landscape, from the textures of bark, seed pods and leaves, to the movement of wind and water.
“I see weaving not just as a technique, but as a dialogue with nature, where the materials guide the direction of the work as much as I do,” she explains.
Textural wall art is credited with bringing another dimension to how we experience art. A flat canvas is viewed front-on, but fibre works extend into space and interact with their surroundings.
They cast shadows that shift throughout the day, so the work is never static, it is alive and responsive to light.
“There is something visceral about woven materials,” says Pollard.
“People instinctively want to touch them, to feel the textures and patterns. Fibre carries its own history, whether it is a vine that once grew in the bush or copper wire that once carried electricity, and that embedded story becomes part of the artwork.”
Metal magic
At the other end of the material spectrum, metal is also having a moment. Flexible, versatile and built to last, it brings a striking talking point to entertaining spaces indoors or out.
“I have been making sculptural wall art for over 30 years. I draw my ideas from organic shapes in nature and also from mechanical and architectural forms, and make work that has texture, depth and movement,” says Helen Neyland, artist and creative director at Entanglements Metal Art Studio at her Jasper Road studio in Melbourne’s Ormond.
“Metal wall art breaks away from a painting. It is 3D, it is textural, it works indoors or out, in foyers, large voids and bare walls. As the light passes through the day, the shadows change, stretching and falling across the wall. It gives you a work that is alive. You can backlight it for effect, or just let the light play naturally.”
Neyland notes that more people are seeking handmade, crafted pieces.
“There is more value placed on artisan work,” she says. “Sculptural wall art gives depth, presence and honesty that you do not get with mass-produced pieces.”
Emerging artists
Bluethumb Gallery is Australia’s largest online gallery of original art, representing more than 30,000 emerging and established artists across the country.
Nadia Vitlin is one of them. Based in Sydney, she has a background in geospatial and biological sciences and describes her art as bringing together “the study of nature, humanity, emotions and sociological phenomena through the lens of the scientist”, via the tactile form of clay.
“I do also create two-dimensional works, and love having ‘flat’ art on my walls, but 3D and textured wall art is really having a moment,” she says.
“This may be because they are like hung sculptures more than they are paintings, and can contribute to the feel of a space rather than directly telling a visual story. Another thing may be that the tactility of a 3D object is quite irresistible.
“I always let gallery visitors touch my artworks – within reason! It is especially tempting because I make hard clay look soft, so the brain cannot help but want to feel it to understand it.”
Sculptor Brad Gunn agrees. “I think the element of depth captures the viewer’s eyes more quickly. It invites touch, and the tactile nature gives a secondary element to the work.
“Also, as the light changes in the room, either from the natural sun’s rays, overhead lighting or lamps, the work will cast its own shadows and feel different throughout the day.”
This story appeared in the summer issue of Kanebridge Quarterly Magazine. You can buy a copy here.
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A collection of only 18 full-floor and two-storey residences has launched on one of the Gold Coast’s most tightly held stretches of beachfront.
AMALI will rise 22 levels at 3535–3537 Main Beach Parade, occupying an 810sqm site with no road separating the building from the sand.
Prices begin at $10.2 million for the three-bedroom full-floor residences, while the development’s two-storey penthouses are being offered from $25 million. Completion is anticipated in early 2029.
The project has received development approval and is being delivered by Eastment Group of Companies, the developer behind the nearby AMANI Main Beach. Core Property Partners is overseeing project strategy, development and construction management.
Bayden Goddard’s BGD Architects has designed the tower, with interiors by multidisciplinary studio Tom Mark Henry and landscaping by Arcadia Landscape Architecture. Kollosche New Projects is handling sales and marketing.
Eighteen residences across 22 levels
Rather than maximising the number of apartments on the beachfront parcel, AMALI has been designed around privacy, space and a low resident population.
The tower will contain 16 full-floor residences and two two-level penthouses. Each home will have uninterrupted views over the Pacific Ocean and private lift access, giving residents an arrival experience more closely associated with a standalone house.
The standard full-floor residences will provide approximately 378sqm of space, with three bedrooms, three bathrooms and parking for two cars. Prices start at $10.2 million.
With only one residence occupying each typical level, the floor plans have been designed to capture natural light, ocean breezes and views in several directions. Generous living spaces will transition into outdoor areas overlooking the beach, creating a direct visual relationship with the coastline.
The two penthouses will extend across two levels and offer approximately 898sqm, with four bedrooms, five bathrooms and four parking spaces each.
Priced from $25 million, each penthouse will also have access to a private rooftop domain incorporating an entertaining lounge, bar, kitchen, terrace and swimming pool. From this elevated position, views will extend across both the ocean and the Gold Coast skyline.
Architecture informed by the coastline
AMALI’s architecture has been conceived as a restrained response to its beachfront setting.
The 22-storey form uses curved edges and layered horizontal elements to soften the tower’s profile, while extensive glazing opens the residences towards the ocean.
Inside, Tom Mark Henry has developed a palette based on the colours and textures of the coast. Natural stone and warm timber veneers will be combined with bronze and brushed-brass detailing, bespoke materials and sculptural lighting.
The approach is intended to create homes that are highly finished without feeling overly formal. Earthy tones and tactile materials will provide warmth, while expansive glazing and open living areas keep the ocean as the primary visual feature.
Private lift access, large floor plates and the absence of shared residential corridors on the typical levels reinforce the project’s emphasis on discretion.
Wellness on the beachfront
Residents will have access to a dedicated wellness precinct anchored by a heated infinity-edge pool overlooking the beach.
The facilities will also include a fully equipped gym, steam room and hot and cold plunge pools, combining exercise and recovery spaces within the building.
Direct beachfront access will allow residents to move from the development to the sand without crossing Main Beach Parade—one of the project’s defining points of difference.
The design positions these shared amenities as an extension of the beachfront lifestyle rather than a separate resort-style podium. With only 18 households using them, the spaces are also expected to offer a greater degree of privacy than facilities in larger apartment towers.
A tightly held Main Beach position
AMALI’s site is within walking distance of the Tedder Avenue dining and retail precinct and a short drive from Marina Mirage, Southport Yacht Club and the broader Main Beach marina district.
The location also places it near a growing cluster of luxury hotel, residential and lifestyle projects reshaping the northern end of the central Gold Coast.
Main Beach has become an increasingly important prestige-apartment market, supported by its relative scarcity of absolute beachfront development sites and proximity to both the ocean and Broadwater.
AMALI enters that market at its highest end. Its $10.2 million entry price positions even the standard residences firmly within the trophy-apartment category, while the two penthouses will compete with the most expensive new residences being offered on the Gold Coast.
The development follows AMANI, another boutique Main Beach project involving Eastment Group, BGD Architects and Core Property Partners. That continuity has allowed the team to carry a similar focus on large residences and limited apartment numbers into an absolute beachfront setting.
Sales are being led by Michael Kollosche and Harry Kakavas of Kollosche New Projects, with private presentations available through the project’s Broadbeach display suite.
With development approval secured and completion targeted for early 2029, AMALI’s launch adds just 18 buying opportunities to a beachfront market where scarcity is part of the proposition.
Its combination of full-floor living, private lift access and direct connection to the sand places the project somewhere between a luxury apartment tower and a collection of elevated beachfront houses—an increasingly sought-after model at the top of the Gold Coast market.
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