A vibrant new public artwork has transformed Sydney’s Marrickville neighbourhood, showcasing the powerful collaboration between art and technology. Acclaimed Australian muralist James Gulliver Hancock, invited by Leonardo.AI and Google Cloud, has unveiled a new mural which captures Marrickville’s dynamic spirit and rich tapestry of life and creativity.

Working with the Leonardo.AI team, James explored how AI could complement his unique artistic style. Leonardo.AI worked as his creative partner – responding to his prompts, adapting to his feedback, conjuring fresh perspectives, and ultimately helping shape a vibrant artwork rooted in the local culture. It became a creative partner for James, expanding the process and unlocking new ideas that might have just taken a longer time to arrive at that point through traditional methods alone.

For James, this project was a chance to bring art and technology together to celebrate imagination, learning, and community. His creative process began by immersing himself in Marrickville, gathering the textures, colours, and details that define the suburb. These inspirations were then used within Leonardo.AI to help James generate new artistic elements for the mural. As a Google Cloud customer, Leonardo.AI uses Google Cloud’s powerful infrastructure to help artists like James seamlessly integrate AI into their work.

James, new to using AI in his art, used the platform more for inspiration and exploration rather than just image generation. He discovered the ability to quickly randomise the elements created to different compositions, which he could then refine. To him, this was pleasantly surprising. He found the experience felt “less like using a tool, and more like having a creative conversation.” He discovered it “opened things up,” leading to playful, layered, and vibrant ideas. With AI from Google Cloud, Leonardo.AI gives artists a constant flow of visual inspiration, with total control over style, mood, lighting, and form. It’s not just image generation – it’s co-creation.

Want to see the mural for yourself? The Marrickville mural is located at 245 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville NSW (wall faces Illawarra Rd)* and will be on display until January 2026.