Acclaimed artist Carla Scotto collaborates with RSPCA for 150th anniversary exhibition

Running until March 20, the Wombat in the Room exhibition showcases 150 years of animal care, protection, education and advocacy while highlighting an important message: animal cruelty exists.

Melburnians can spot the wombats at various locations across the eastern suburbs, including RSPCA Burwood East, Burwood Brickworks, Eastland Shopping Centre and RACV Healesville.

Each of the wombats is also up for grabs, with an online auction giving bidders the chance to take home their very own piece of RSPCA history.

All funds raised from the auction will go to RSPCA shelters across Victoria.

Among the artists participating in the event is local designer, illustrator and 2D animator, Carla Scotto, who is of Italian and Greek heritage.

With three days left until the online auction closes, the current bid for Scotto’s wombat, Stella, is $850.

Stella is a predominately pink wombat adorned with a celestial design in blue, yellow and orange hues.

Carla Scotto’s design

“A lot of my work features patterns and I love the imagery of the thing that’s constant in our lives: the moon, stars and sun,” Scotto said.

“Animals don’t have the same permanence and while I hope wombats are here forever, the lack of climate policy and wildlife preservation means the preservation of these species is something we have to fight for rather than hope on leaders to do the right thing.

“The last few years of extreme weather have shown that the preservation of all the unique animals that feature on this landscape need to be a priority.”

The name of Scotto’s artwork is a nod to her Italian heritage.

“I named my wombat Stella because it’s the Italian word for ‘star’ and this reflects the design,” the gifted 28-year-old said.

Scotto’s father was born in Formia, a coastal city located around an hour south of Rome, and migrated to Australia with his family at the age of eight.

With many Italian uncles who are artists, Scotto inherited her creative flair from her father’s side.

Her talent was noticed when she travelled to Italy at the same age her father was when he first arrived in Melbourne.

“After drawing with me, one of my uncles urged my parents to enrol me in painting classes,” she said.

Scotto’s first teacher was acclaimed Italo-Australian artist, Eolo Paul Bottaro.

“He taught me at a very young age to copy the old masters,” she said.

While completing a Bachelor of Arts majoring in French and Chinese at Monash University, Scotto returned to her father’s homeland to study Renaissance history for a month in Florence.

After completing her degree, she travelled around Europe for four months before undertaking an intensive course in graphic design at Shillington College.

Scotto is no stranger to creating artwork for a good cause: she often harnesses her talent to speak out on pressing issues, from climate action to social justice.

“I desperately wanted to be making art for a purpose rather than just mindlessly drawing for no reason,” she said.

Having started out creating anti-plastic propaganda in 2015, Scotto is best known for her Always Was Always Will Be design, which is used exclusively by Aboriginal-owned-and-led fashion label, Clothing The Gaps.

While Scotto said the artwork was “a fluke”, it has since become an iconic design that was particularly integral to the clothing label’s cause prior to the Aboriginal flag being “freed” in January, allowing all Australians to use it without fear of copyright.

The historic development came after Clothing The Gaps launched a social media campaign to #FreeTheFlag in 2019, in response to being served a cease and desist notice from non-Indigenous company, WAM Clothing, who owned exclusive rights for use of the flag.

Having been given three working days to sell all stock displaying the Aboriginal flag or face legal action, Clothing The Gaps began using Scotto’s design to keep the visibility of Aboriginal culture and art alive and spark important conversations to educate the wider community.

“I didn’t draw the design with the intention of it being hugely impactful; I was just messing around with typography and it took on a life of its own,” Scotto said.

“While I was somewhat educated on Australia’s real past, I wasn’t that well read on it.

“Then I had to be by default because I’d unintentionally inserted myself into a conversation.

“Plus, there’s always that obligation to the place where you live and profit from.”

Scotto has since tried to remove herself from the conversation and let her art do the talking.

“Ultimately, it’s not about me,” she said.

“That artwork is mine, but it’s also not.”

In addition to Clothing The Gaps, Scotto has teamed up with organisations including UNESCO and Take 3 For The Sea in the past.

She hopes her latest collaboration with RSPCA Victoria will encourage others to appreciate the land we live in and all it has to offer.

“We should preserve the things that make this colonised country unique, rather than continuing to desecrate it and destroy it for profit,” she concluded.

“At the end of the day, you can’t take your money with you; it’s all impermanent.”