Art In Place/Art in Incarceration

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ART IN PLACE

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In My Shell
By Sally Holliday, 2020
I made this lino print when the fist wave of covid was rolling through. I found myself shy, cautious to venture out, yet knowing how much I need to stay connected to friends and family. What brings you out of your shell? When do you seek solace there?

Wise Self
By Sally Holliday 2021
I made this piece after experiencing a guided visualisation where I met my wise self. My wise self, imparted a clear message: like the ocean – I shouldn’t apologise for being rough or moody, being made of water, is it any wonder my moods toss like the tides? What message might your wise self have for you?

Burnt Out
By Sally Holliday, 2021
I made this piece following the Summer fires of 2020
The leaves were collected from my friend’s property. I see this artwork differently over a year on, now my friend and I are burned out from lockdown, not being able to see one other or land in the same place. What insights do you gain from time in nature?

Multifacted
By Sally Holliday – 2019
We are multifaceted, alwasys shifting, changing and growing. What we are shown is not always a truthful representation. What we come to know of ourself is likely to prove more enlightening.

Constellations
By Sally Holliday
Though we may feel isolated and alone, our choices and actions have knock-on effects. We are all interconnected. Is there something you can do to brighten someone’s day? How can you connect to what sustains and uplifts you?

Mark Making (for its own sake)
Art is about play and exploration. Sometimes I have no idea where exploring a technique will take me. In this example, I was experimenting with mark marking; keeping my eyes closed or using my non dominant hand, holding my brushes in unusual ways, non being too attached to the outcome, surrendering and letting go. The outcome was unexpected and surprising. How can you find ways to change things up and try a new approach?

Performing/Spectating
By Sally Holliday, 2019
We experience the world from different angles, our place in it often depends on our mood. Living with bipolar, I have experienced both the vibrant performer and the silent spectator. Do you have mood characters?

Woven Reflection
Sally Holliday 2021

Earlier this year, I created a series of weavings for an exhibition as part of the Celebrate Gungahlin Festival. I gave an artist talk and ran a workshop as part of the festival program. This photo was taken during the workshop, what you see is my profile reflected in the television screen with one of my baskets in the background. I’ve chosen to show this photograph as it speaks to the shadow self. Though I was proud of my work, I was also experiencing a dose of imposter syndrome. Making my work for me, was not the same as opening it up to others.

Labyrinthine Heart
By Sally Holliday, 2021
In covid times we may not be able to travel far from home, but we can delve into the labyrinthine gardens of our bodies and minds. Why not take a piece of string and lay it along your canvas, allow it to tumble without extra effort to form a network of rooms and tunnels. Journey through your own body as you construct your maze.

Hot Mess
By Sally Holliday, 2021
I made this artwork after a series of challenging situations lead to PTSD activation. Sometimes my emotions get the
better of me, over riding my body like a power plant melt-down. Making an artwork after this event allowed me to experience the moment again, this time from a calmer/reflective frame of mind.

Plant Awareness
By Sally Holliday, 2021
I created this simple collage as an example for Gungahlin Art’s forthcoming Positive Poster Lab on 17 October (check out the Belco Arts website for details). I chose to create a poster that emulates both what I want for myself and for others in this time of noise and hype.

‘An Insecure State’
Sally Holliday, 2021
I created this simple collage to capture a moodscape exploring transitions and change. I incorporated papers I’d been keeping for over a decade. Letting them find their place amidst the composition was like they had found a place to call home, which in turn led to a sense of coming home to myself amidst chaos and the unknown.

Sally Holliday is an artist, maker and creative facilitator presently residing in Canberra.
She has worked as an arts enabler in museums, galleries and festivals, whilst maintaining her own creative practice.

Sally is interested in the intangible and ephemeral. She explores the nexus between inner and outer worlds, and creates art pieces in response to lived experiences of mental health. She enjoys collage and assembly techniques, often incorporating found objects or repurposed materials in her work, giving them renewed life and meaning.

Sally is currently training to become a Transpersonal Art Therapist and Counsellor. She enjoys companioning others on their creative journeys.

ART IN INCARCERATION
Indigenous artists from the Alexander Maconochie Centre

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Kangaroos

ARTISTS STORY: I have been in custody for some time now and I am a person only just learning about my cultural background as it was very much kept from me growing up and I have only been painting for a few months and when I look at a canvas, I say to myself “that might look nice” and I paint it. PAINTING helps me heaps as I realise now that I am actually good at something and with a bit of help, I could do painting on the outside. When I am doing art in jail my mind is elsewhere

Mating Dance

ARTISTS STORY: this painting shows two turtles engaging in a mating dance in order to produce offspring. Painting keeps me connected with culture and family. This is important when you are in jail as there is a lot of spare time to do head miles and keeping focussed on family keeps me safe mentally.

Native Animals Gathering

ARTISTS STORY: This painting tells a story of me reconciling with one of my aboriginal brother’s. he is a saltwater man, and I am a muddy water man. We had our issues in the past, but we are tight bonded by blood. Doing art in jail has given me the biggest and brightest step towards looking at the positive side of life and it has given me brightest step towards a clearer mind and better future.

Outback Journey

Womens Gathering

ARTISTS STORY: this artwork shows women gathering for ceremony. Doing art helps me to clear my mind. It gives me something positive to focus on.

Goanna Breeding

ARTISTS STORY: This painting is about the natural life cycle of the goanna as it arises from the dust and then returns to it. Painting in jail makes the time go quick here and uses my time in a meaningful way and makes me feel good about myself. If I can sell my artwork the money helps me buy toiletries, more art supplies and helps build my nest egg to help me get by on release.

Creation

Spirits Dreaming

ARTISTS STORY: This artwork is about the connection that aboriginal people have to culture and land. While we are busy doing other things, our spirits dream of going back to country. I find art relaxing and a good way to stay connected to culture while away from community. Art is good for my peace of mind.

Life Cycle

ARTISTS STORY: This painting is about a tribe surrounded by waterholes as in the cycle of life. Painting in jail makes the time go quick here and uses my time in a meaningful way and makes me feel good about myself. If I can sell my artwork the money helps me buy toiletries, more art supplies and helps build my nest egg to help me get by on release.

Rabbitohs

ARTISTS STORY: for me the Rabbitoh’s represent the aboriginal men who played for souths over the years. The flag with the rabbits represents the backbone of souths with their fans included. Painting while incarcerated gives me the opportunity to improve as an artist and a person and to be guided with the help of culture back into the community in a better frame of mind than what I came in with. Painting also provides me the opportunity to connect with my culture while I am in jail and away from

In terms of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art program, since the inception of the AMC in 2008 cultural art creation by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees has been an important activity for this cohort as it connects them to their culture and by their own admission provides the brief moment of respite they need from the being incarcerated in order to cope. Before the recent COVID-19 lockdown a weekly cultural art program was running in the AMC for men and women facilitated by local artist Aunty Veronica Jordan. As part of this program artists were not only encouraged to hone their existing skills but are also invited to learn more about the totems, symbols and patterns they were putting to canvas so they could better understand the cultural significance of what they were painting.

On completion of any artwork detainees have the option of keeping their work in storage until their release, gifting their artwork out of the facility to nominated family or friends or putting their work up for public sale through the popular electronic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Detainee Art Catalogue, which is regularly sent out to ACT Government Agencies, or of which such works are placed on public display through approved exhibitions. The art catalogue will soon be available for broader public access on the Justice and Community Safety website.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Detainee Art Catalogue was an initiative commenced in 2017 and in that time has seen over 290 artworks submitted for public sale of which around 250 have been sold amounting to approximately $100, 000 being spread throughout participating detainees holding accounts providing them scope to have a small nest egg on release to assist with their successful reintegration into society upon release. A number of detainees have also proceeded to make a living in the community from their artistic ability by continuing to create and sell art publicly.

To purchase any of the Indigenous artist art contact david.witham@act.gov.au