Rain - Quadrennial Public Artwork

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Rain: The story behind the artwork

Discover the story behind Rain, the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters' fifth Quadrennial Public Artwork. Created by Wills Projects (Laura Wills and Will Cheesman), Rain draws inspiration from the remarkable life cycle of the rain moth, revealing the hidden ecologies that exist beneath our feet and celebrating the interconnected relationships between people, place and the more-than-human world.

This page accompanies the completed artwork, offering deeper insight into the ideas, collaborations and creative processes that shaped its development.

Through a series of short films, an original sound work and a literary reading created for the project, visitors are invited to experience Rain from multiple perspectives, uncovering the many creative voices and disciplines that have contributed to the work

Watch the story unfold

Follow the development of Rain through a series of four short videos captured across the life of the project.

This collection shares the ideas, making and collaborations behind the artwork, tracing its journey from early research and design through to its installation on Osmond Terrace, Norwood.

Throughout the project, Wills Projects collaborated with a diverse network of contributors, including Kaurna consultants, writers, entomologists, lighting designers, glass casting artists, fabricators and engineers, whose collective expertise helped bring Rain to life on Osmond Terrace, Norwood.

Watch Episode 1 below, then scroll down to discover Episodes 2 and 3. Episode 4 will be available in the coming weeks.

Watch episode 1: Introduction 

 
Watch: Episode 2: The Making Of | Episode 3: Taking Shape | Episode 4 available soon.

Listen: Shapeshifters

Stereo sound work (16 minutes)
Keira Simmons, 2026

Created as a companion to Rain, Shapeshifters extends the artwork beyond its physical form into an immersive sonic landscape.

Shapeshifters imagines the rain moth's final hours. After seven years of waiting and transforming beneath the earth, the moth awakens to soar into the night for a single evening of revelry. Rain striking the ground, heavy drips, burbling streams and blurred impressions of fluttering wings intertwine with layered vocals and synthesised textures, creating a trance-like rhythm that evokes cycles of emergence, transformation and return.

The work combines field recordings captured on Kaurna Country with original sound design and composition, inviting listeners into the unseen world that inspired Rain.

Sound artist

Keira J. Simmons (she/they) is a South Australian sound artist and sound designer based on unceded Kaurna Land.

Their practice explores embodied relationships between ecology, place and sound through speculative soundwalking, immersive listening experiences and meditative ambient performance.

As a freelance sound designer, Keira collaborates with local and international artists across interdisciplinary projects that investigate queerness, ecology, neurodivergence and embodied theatrical experiences.

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Listen: The Cloak

Written by Jennifer Mills
Read by Danielle Lim

You can also download and read The Cloak.

As part of the broader creative response to Rain, acclaimed author Jennifer Mills' fable, The Cloak, is brought to life through a reading by actor Danielle Lim.

The recording offers another way of experiencing the ideas that underpin the artwork, inviting listeners into a poetic reflection on transformation, landscape, and the unseen worlds that exist alongside our own.

Performer

Danielle Lim is an award-winning Malaysian–Australian actor, writer, theatre maker and producer who graduated from the Flinders Drama Centre in 2021.

Passionate about championing Asian stories across stage and screen, Danielle's practice seeks to expand representation and inspire more Asian Australians to pursue careers in the arts.

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About Rain

Rain is the fifth Quadrennial Public Artwork commissioned by the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters.

Installed on Osmond Terrace, Norwood, Rain invites moments of curiosity, reflection and connection within the public realm. The City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters gratefully acknowledges the support of CreateSA, and the Government of South Australia, whose $100,000 grant contributed to the delivery of the City's fifth Quadrennial Public Artwork.

Location

Rain is located on the nature strip of Osmond Terrace at the intersection with William Street in Norwood.

Learn more

Explore the Main Projects webpage for full details about Rain and the Quadrennial Public Art Program, including funding, installation site, project timeline and previous artworks.