Paper Chained Editor Damien Linnane interviews artist Tony Minahan, the artist behind the creation and restoration of murals at Long Bay Correctional Centre, and also the creator of murals at Glen Innes Correctional Centre. The following interview was conducted via mail. Special thanks to Corrective Services New South Wales for providing the photographs of the murals.
How long have you been an artist?
I think I was born an artist, but it wasn’t until incarceration that I have been what people call an ‘artist’, surviving and thriving solely upon my practice of art.
I was a recreational practitioner of art before prison. But before I continue, let’s get this straight. I’m not in PRISON, I’m in art school, although some do call it prison :) Ha! So while I was an occasional hobbyist with art, it wasn’t until my gaol/art school time that I was able to become critical of my work and really develop what I know now.
Can you tell me about the murals at Long Bay?
I got to a stage in my art studies where I was producing many canvases of varying sizes. In documentaries on TV, I noticed the canvases in Europe and they were massive, so much so that when a real person stood beside them the people painted on the canvases became life-size, so I thought that should be my next lesson. I’ve got to learn how to produce large-scale imagery. So looking back to how the old masters learnt, they often reproduced other famous artist’s works during their apprenticeships. I therefore adopted their techniques, using famous works and enlarging them, all drawn and measured by hand. I used Sidney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series, as I thought the whole criminal idea seemed apt for where we were. Then came Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” for the challenge of a different technique. Then my favourite Aussie bush artist, Frederick McCubbin, in another different style.
With all these three artists, I used two of their works and had to combine them into one image to suit the scale of the wall I had to work on. The Van Gogh was fun as I had to create the second half of the image which I turned into the Sydney Harbour scene in his style. I really do enjoy my art school challenges at times. There was also an adaption of the Japanese painting of the Great Wave that I put running down three flights of stairs to finish in an underwater scene on the ground floor. Of course, while painting all these great ideas came to me and some were given, to put all these weird and wonderful things and characters in the waves and all around. There is so much in those three flights: too much detail to describe. And there was of course a solid nine months restoring the famous Sydney Harbour Kings Cross piece. I’ve since been transferred to Glen Innes and I’m making murals here now.
Was it strange touching up another artist’s work?
It was strange at first, you’ve got to put the ego aside and you look at it as just another job. But as you get into it, you want to do the original artist an honour by redoing their work as well as you can. As both the original artists of the King’s Cross mural had passed away, I couldn’t help but think or feel that they were watching over me. It was really easy to improve upon the few compositional flaws that we all get with the initial laying down of an image. For me, that stage was done by those guys so I could assess the image and see what needed correcting. Of course, there were the screws on my back: “Don’t change a thing or add anything,” was the constant harp. But hey, for this purpose I’m now not in art school, I’m in gaol and I’m a crim, so “Fuck you”: I’m not dropping the quality of my work. I had to leave my touch on the piece while still keeping the authentic feel and style. At the end of the day everybody was happy and if a certain officer is reading, yes, that is a convict’s uniform on the bear breaking out! (We told him it wasn’t, that it was pyjamas!)
What impact do you think murals have in custody?
Being in custody is never going to be a pleasant or happy experience for any mentally sane person. From my own experience, it is so depressing when all you see for months on end is brick walls and wire. It sets people into depression. Maybe it was designed to do that back in the dark ages when they wanted you to have no distractions and force you to look at your actions. The crazy thing is we all do that in the dark hours of night. I know, I’ve witnessed it firsthand with many people. The break my artwork gives people when you see them light up and even laugh gives people’s mental health a deadly needed rest and a touch of reprieve. Murals will never be a cure-all, but in a system where we should be facing and assessing the consequences of our actions, they can have a much-needed mental rest if only for a short time. In short: Murals = positive mental health. 99.9% of inmates love my work and the transformation it brings to their environment. Of course, art being art, there will always one or two who bring their unprofessional critique. But I have never ever had someone say, “Oh that’s shit”.
What other mediums do you work with?
I draw and draw everyday. A day never passes when I don’t at least scribble something. It is the quintessential basic skill every artist has to possess. It’s also the cheapest way to practice, and once you reach a level of proficiency you can support yourself in gaol very comfortably. Besides that, I paint for my own pleasure, usually onto canvases. I have occasionally built little dioramas out of whatever is lying around. I make little men out of dinner tray skeletons covered in bread and wood glue, then paint them. Now that I’m at Glen Innes, I’ve been getting into making rock stacks. Balancing as many rocks as I could on top of each other and then putting two white dots on top for eyes. I called them ‘stoners’ and they were all a part of a rock band. Of course, like all bands they broke up.
Tell me about having your work displayed at Long Bay’s Boom Gate Gallery.
My time with the Boom Gate Gallery really brought my work up to the next level. When I first started with them, I was doing the generic cute animals, pretty landscapes, etc. At that time, I was using my practice as a form of escapism. It wasn’t long before they asked me to paint my gaol story. It was then that I entered my next level of art school. At the time, I’d come from Goulburn where I spent over five years studying how to draw the human form and now the time came for me to apply that practice.
It is hard having your work displayed and sold through a gaol gallery as they never tell you who’s buying your work and they don’t pass on any public feedback. I was lucky that there were a couple of friendly officers who’d give you a quick sneak peek on the internet at their website and I got a small chance to read a little public feedback, which was amazing and inspiring. I guess the best feedback we receive is when our work sells. Selling my work through the gallery has helped me so much. I have met so many visiting people in the gaol who would see me painting my murals and the officers would introduce me, explaining that my work was in the gallery. When they realised I was the gaol scene painter they’d all say “Yeah, we know your work, we’re fans!” It has helped me to get my name out there. There’s also the financial angle. After over ten years in goal, I have nothing left to get out to and the sale of my art has given me the chance to start again and have a go at making an honest living. Over my time in gaol, I’ve sold seventy eight paintings through the gallery and to all those customers I say a heartfelt thank you.
My future business name will be Artymus Art. Art is my redemption. Over this time, I’ve learnt that I do have an addictive nature - there’s nothing I can do about this but to work with it. So my time in gaol, I’ve used art to beat my drug addiction and to turn it into something healthy, so now I have an art addiction. But I believe that is a good thing as now I can affect humanity in a positive way, which is great for them but also beneficial for me. Art is my life and it is who I am. Without it, I’m not going there because that won’t happen.
What are the challenges of being an artist in prison?
One has to remember what environment we are in. This world is hypersensitive, extremely politically correct, insular and super vigilant. The screws and staff are on the lookout for anything that can put negative light upon the system. I’ve had quite a few works rejected because they told the truth of how I feel and how we’re treated. But to the employees it could cast a negative light upon their system. I was once ‘case noted’ for making art about a very real but taboo subject within the system. They let you tell part of your story, but not the complete truth. It’s really hard to deal with the censorship we experience here. There’s another world to deal with regarding murals. I innocently painted a 3-D bus seat on a wall and a life sized inmate siting on the seat. I was then asked by an officer to do a life size version of him standing at the side of the bench. That lasted two weeks until night security complained that they kept panicking that they thought people were out in the open during the night. So they had to be painted over. I took it as a compliment. After this, I was marched to a meeting with the Manager of Security and they laid down the law: no life-size renderings of people and no painting officers.
Now let’s talk about access to materials. It’s hard to get a quality pencil sharpener. You buy at least four in hope that at one works well. Quality erasers? Yeah, dream on. Get to know SAPO’s or any staff you can and beg and plead. Eventually what you need will find its way to you, but it can be like finding water in the desert. The challenges for artists in custody are many, but if you’re born to create nothing can stop you. Pencils, pens, and paper are cheap. Other crims understand our dilemma and often come to help. My latest hassle at Glen Innes was running out of some colours of paint. When the Governor was on holidays, I took my order over to the admin and was later informed that if I asked for paint again I would be locked away in isolation. When the Governor came back, he apologised and said he would get the paint himself. It just shows there is always a challenge.
I would so love to play with oil paints. I’ve won the Corrective Services Artist of the Year and the Indigenous Artist of the Year awards. I’ve painted over 500 square meters of Government infrastructure, and I still can’t get to experience the joys of oil paint. How about an easel or a little fold up seat so I can do open air painting. I do open-air painting, but I have to do it with multiple trips to carry chairs, tables, or whatever I can find to do the job.
Can you tell me about the murals at Glen Innes?
The first mural I did at Glenn Innes was the old escort scene we put on the front of the reception building. After discussions with the Governor, we agreed to pay homage to the historical elements of the gaol. We went through the gaol’s old photo albums and I picked what I liked. I then went back to the pod, placed all the images in front of me and let the magic happen. There’s also a tribute to the nurse I did in the clinic, I tried to use perspective principles to make it look like another room in hopes that one day maybe someone will walk into the wall. Ha Ha.
I haven’t changed my approach to the murals I made at Long Bay. I still charcoal on the sketch and use the same type of paint. What I’ve found is different is the workplace safety techniques. At Glen Innes, they are very strict and by the book, compared to Long Bay, where I painted three metres in the air standing on twelve plastic food pallets with a slippery plastic chair on top. It was so sketchy as it wobbled and slipped and occasionally broke. I did ask for a ladder, to which they only laughed and said, ‘Yeah right, we’ll give you a ladder’. Here at Glen, they put up scaffolding for me to paint. They are so supportive they even put me through all the courses so when I leave here I’ll have my scaffolding ticket, my working at heights ticket, and I’m able to complete a business course as well. I’ve told them I’d like to do this as a career and they are putting everything in place to make that happen. At Long Bay that never would have happened.
The dream is to continue painting murals after my release. Fortunately, with my time here I’ve built up quite an extensive portfolio, so my plans upon release is to hopefully work for someone while I navigate the parole hurdles.
What’s your advice for creating art?
I’ve seen people make art with coffee because they don’t have any paint. Don’t let your current circumstance define your ability. Instead, let it inspire you to heights you can only imagine. You may have heard the idiom - great art is born of great pain - you have to bleed for your art - those sayings are absolutely born of truth. This is your time, to learn to fly. On the outside, I used drugs with the excuse that it would inspire. Now I’ve been locked up over ten years and I’m so clear headed, with so much natural inspiration from my time and I can’t express how crazily prolific my rate of work is. In here, you have the time to learn and develop your own style, paid for by the Government! The best place to start that is a must for every artist, is drawing. It’s cheap. And don’t stress too much about quality to start with, as people see that you’re serious with what you’re doing, they’ll help, which it is a weird thing to witness in gaol. Art is self-sustaining. Once you reach a certain level, it’s like God smiles upon you and opens the heavens. For techniques and tips, look in your library in the education section. For references, use old newspapers. Life drawing is one of my favourite forms of art but it’s challenging. Use the inmates in the yards to practice. Just don’t be too hard on yourself. Enjoy the challenge and watch the miracle that is time flying. That is what I hear the most: “I just get lost in myself when I draw and I lose track of time.” Anyway, that’s the best place to start, but the most important above all other tools is the mind. Stay positive. You don’t have to be classically trained or have gone to art school. I didn’t. If you’ve just got to create, you just have to. Good luck and may the art be with you.
