Ryan Presley is a Marri Ngarr artist whose work challenges traditional power structures and questions how portraiture has historically been used to reinforce ideologies of conquest and Empire building.
In Paradise won, Presley builds on narratives and imagery he has been working with since 2020. The scenes in this mural are based on the lived experiences of the artist’s friends, family and community. Here they are reimagined using references to art history, drawing attention to political and social issues including youth incarceration, deaths in custody, urban displacement and mining on Traditional Lands.
Channelling depictions of the bravery of saints and archangels in Christian iconography, Paradise won transports us into the world of heroic First Nations figures engaging in acts of resistance, confrontation and escape. Presley presents the figures in a series of cathedral-like gold arches to ‘invoke an experience of witnessing epic grandeur and religious awe’. The arches are inspired by English painter Ernest William Tristram’s Reconstruction of medieval mural painting, two angels (c 1927) and include decorative references to Australian flora such as pandanus and wattle.
Paradise won is rich in narrative detail and symbolism. In one panel, a young woman takes flight in a hot-rod with a number plate reading BLK PWR, retelling the Old Testament story of the prophet Elijah who rode to heaven on a flaming chariot. In another, a determined young man prepares to propel boomerangs into the air in defence of Country. Each individual figure is adorned with a gold halo, speaking to their courage, resilience and strength.
Prominently positioned at the Gallery’s entrance, this ambitious new commission invites conversations about the ongoing legacies of colonisation and celebrates First Nations survival and autonomy.
