The Religious Artworks of Adrian Immens
A photo booklet has been printed as a tribute to the late Adrian Immens. A well-known Orange local and General Manager of Email (Electrolux), Adrian created the remarkable stained glass works of art for the Orange Base Hospital, as part of the Chapel which was built with money raised by the community.
The stained-glass windows (all 26 of them) which have now been relocated to the Orange Health Service, date back to 1994. The images depict religious themes designed to stimulate reflection and meditation. Immens hoped that in times of sorrow the windows would encourage people to see the world in a positive light.
During the final stages of construction of Orange’s ‘new’ hospital the windows were transferred to the new Prayer Room and adjoining corridor at the hospital, following a service at the former chapel conducted by Father Carl Mackander and the Reverend Father Canon Frank Hetherington.
The creation of a Prayer Room at Orange Hospital in place of a Chapel was in line with NSW Health policies at the time the Forest Road Health Service was built.
Former Deputy CEO of Orange Base Hospital, Peter Brown was responsible for producing the book outlining the history of the stained- glass windows.
“My wife, Sister Helen Brown was on the Chapel committee, (she also set up the original Palliative Care Unit with the Orange Base Hospital),” said Peter. “The committee approached Adrian, and he had offered to do the windows, and only wanted the cost of the materials, he donated everything else, all of his time and the design work.
“I found a photocopy that Adrian had given Helen, of the windows in black and white, and I thought, oh we have to do something with this.. It’s a part of Orange’s history. My next thought was I needed a photographer,” Peter explained.
Orange photographer Robert Bruce is responsible for capturing the photographs of the windows for publication for the book.
“We overcame a lot of obstacles, but we did it,” said Robert, “The windows were photographed with the use of lightboxes, two of them were particularly difficult and I used photoshop to compose them together. It was just a matter of working through the process, but it wasn’t straight forward, put it that way.”
Peter added, “Without the expertise and skill of Robert, the production of this record of Adrian’s art would not have been possible.”
“The colours are so vibrant, its magic. With information about Adrian’s life the booklet is also a chance for the community to see some of the designs that are not on public display at the Orange Health Service,” said Peter.
The booklet was sponsored by Orange Clothing Company and an anonymous donor. It can be found on sale at the Hospital Kiosk, Orange Clothing Company and The Orange Visitors Centre at $15 a book.
All proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to Orange Push for Palliative, a local advocacy group committed to ensuring appropriate care facilities are available for the people of Orange and district.