The artwork, titled
Marnong Ngina Wurrdhan, Gorranwarra-Bil Wurrdhan, Dhumnji Wurrdhan,
means Many Hands, Many Places, Many Stories in Taungurung Language
Mick first worked with Ryman Healthcare in 2020 when he designed the logo for Deborah Cheetham Retirement Village on Wadawurrung Country in Ocean Grove, Victoria. The village is named after Yorta Yorta woman, soprano, composer and educator Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO.
You can read more and see some photos of our visit to the Deborah Cheetham Retirement Village below.
“The unique part about the process with Ryman is that I don’t usually go out and sit down with the client as I did at two Ryman villages and the Melbourne office,” Mick said.
“I thought it would be a wonderful way to put a personal touch to the work Ryman does and it was a bonus for me as I got to witness the people that live at the villages and they seemed to love being there.”
Ryman’s RAP artworks, created by Mick, honour traditional cave art and petroglyphs created by Indigenous people for thousands of years.
“One of the common symbols was they would put their hand against the wall and have a mouthful of water and ochre and they would blow a stencil,” Mick said. “I thought what a wonderful way to portray people’s connection to a place.”
Each hand in Mick’s artworks belongs to a Ryman resident or staff member, while the patterns inside the hands represent the individuality of each participant, similar to the unique markings of fingerprints.
“The artwork is a portrayal of individuals as much as they are part of the collective ‘Ryman’,” he said.
“The Melbourne Office is a space full of people with a common goal, but the people’s whose hands I traced have their own unique stories; where they’ve been, who they are and what the rest of their life holds for them.”
Here is a link to the Ryman Australia Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan