Manus & Nauru Drawings Detail
Refugee series and drawings for Manus and Nauru
In 2015 I began working on a series of drawings about the refugee crisis in Europe. Having spent time in Macedonia I had vivid memories of my journey travelling by train from Skopje to Thesalonica. For me it was free and liberating, a New Zealander with a passport allowing me to go where I pleased. Now this border was choked with desperate people seeking safety and being blocked. I drew an Albanian Woman collapsed at the border, it is etched in my mind.
Now years later the plight of people seeking refuge is so extreme, it profoundly affects me.
I draw to try and influence our political stance on refugees and migrants and how as a country we can be a positive part in this global issue. I see Australia’s inhumane policies with offshore detention on Manus and Nauru and New Zealand’s involvement. The treatment of people seeking refuge sitting incarcerated for years without hope. I hope to bring attention to this issue in the Pacific, in our neighbourhood.
I draw from images in news feeds and on media. Maybe I can make these drawings become more than just a passing glance or thought. I hope through the beauty and suffering in art I can cause people to stop and think and act with more humanity and compassion.
Please see the petition page for people seeking asylum in PNG, Nauru and Australia. https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/stand-up-for-refugees-on-manus-and-nauru
Also sign and share Amnesty International ongoing petitions on this.
In 2016 ‘Silent Protest’ was accepted into the Parking Drawing Prize exhibition in Wellington, N.Z.