Bronwen Main is a multidisciplinary artist and designer working at the intersection of ecology and biomaterial innovation, engaging in furniture, architecture and sculpture. Through her practice, she aims to pave the way for more regenerative practices in urban art, demonstrating how public art projects can foster community and environmental stewardship in shared spaces for both human and non-human. 

Her background is in contemporary art and architecture. Before completing her Master of Architecture at the University of Melbourne, Bronwen studied Contemporary Art in New York and later became an ambassador in the Visitor Experience Team at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. During this time, this museum welcomed 7 million visitors annually. This experience transformed Bronwen’s understanding of audience engagement, the accessibility of public art, and the role of arts programming in shaping cities.

Bronwen has lectured and taught design studios, technology, history, and theory at the Melbourne School of Design and the Monash Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture. She has studied at Tianjin University, China, and the Pratt School of Architecture, in Brooklyn. In 2019, she conducted research at the Pratt Consortium for Research and Robotics to explore new modes of creative production utilising New York City’s largest industrial robot. 

Bronwen practiced at Kerstin Thompson Architects and SJB, before starting her own design and artistic practice. Her works have been showcased at the Green Design Show, Melbourne Exhibition Centre, Salamanca Arts Centre, Linden New Art Gallery and Melbourne Design Week.


Artist & Designer

Bronwen Main


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 Exhibitions & Commissions
Current

Past



“Harvest” Series of Hemp Murals, Green Design Show Melbourne Exhibition Centre (2024)

Hemp Furniture Series

The Main Chair: Furniture Designs for “In Conversation” Series Music VenueHigh Note, Northcote (2023)

Algorithm-aided design: New modes of creative production Pratt Consortium for Research & Robotics, Brooklyn NC (2019)

    Flourish was a temporary public artwork commissioned by the City of Melbourne, presented during Spring 2025, that explored regenerative building materials through a large-scale sculptural installation formed from hemp-based composites. Conceived as both an artwork and a site of material research, the project operated at the intersection of sculpture, architecture and environmental science.

    The work incorporated biochar-infused material systems, testing their capacity to absorb airborne pollutants and engage with atmospheric processes in an urban context. In doing so, Flourish extended sculptural practice beyond representation, positioning material performance, environmental interaction and ecological consequence as central artistic concerns.

    The project reflected a growing interest in public artworks that functioned as active systems rather than static objects—works that responded to light, air, climate and material transformation in real time. By integrating sensory experience with scientific inquiry, Flourish proposed a model for public art that was both poetic and operative, contributing materially to urban sustainability while making ecological processes perceptible within the city fabric.