Large-scale art at The Weidner

Some exceptionally large white rabbits invaded The Weidner on the UW-Green Bay campus this week with the installation of “Intrude” by Australian artist Amanda Parer — a large scale, illuminated and inflatable art installation.

Free to view for all visitors and on display 24/7, barring any inclement weather, “Intrude” officially opened to the public on Wednesday, Aug. 26.

Opening day of Intrude coincided with UW-Green Bay staff convocation marking the start of the new 2026-2027 academic year. The Weidner will also host a schedule of free events, performances, and activities during the installation, including the Weidner Philharmonic’s first performance of the season on Sept. 10.

The bunnies of “Intrude” stand enormous yet relaxed in their given new homes.

Rabbits in artist Amanda Parer’s native Australia are a feral species, they leave a trail of ecological destruction wherever they go and defy attempts at eradication.

First introduced by white settlers in 1788, they have caused a great imbalance to the country’s endemic species.

Yet, the rabbit is also an animal of contradiction. They represent the fairy-tale animals of our childhood, of furry innocence, frolicking through idyllic fields.

“Intrude” deliberately evokes this cutesy image, and strong visual humor to lure you into the artwork only to reveal the more serious environmental messages in the work.

The bunnies of Intrude are huge, the size referencing “the elephant in the room” — the problem, like our mismanagement of the environment, big, but one that we too easily ignore.

“It can be said that the rabbit is my muse,” Parer said. “My artwork, Intrude, is like any good fairy-tale, it works from both the light and the dark. In Australia, the rabbit simultaneously represents a cute, cuddly character from our childhood and is an animal known to impose great destruction of the island continent’s delicate ecosystems. It has been fun to use these motifs to explore our relationship with the natural world.”

Amanda Parer’s artwork explores the complex relationship that mankind has with the natural world, her work aims for us to reflect on our impact on the environment. Her imagery plays with scale, light, darkness, humor and melancholy to convey these themes. Amanda finds inspiration from the dramatic landscapes found in her home in Tasmania, Australia.

Parer has been exploring environmental themes in her work since a 1995 trip to the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, where she assisted on award winning natural history film documentaries. Here she experienced the natural world at its most pure.

Parer executes her larger than life works to be approachable, even humorous, to draw the viewer into the more serious theme in the work, which is man’s mismanagement of the environment.

“I raise questions about our relationship with the natural world, enticing my audience into the works through use of scale, drama, with a touch of silliness,” Parer said. “Using the iconography of invasive (including us), endangered or extinct species, upon exhibition, the artworks stand prominent in their given habitats, a bit like ‘the elephant in the room’.”

“Intrude” will be on display day and night outside at The Weidner through Sept. 13.