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What I've Learnt - Marie Ryder · WHAT I'VE LEARNT

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Each of us has many stories to tell.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Stories of success, stories of disappointment, stories of love, and stories of loss.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me your story, allow me to sketch and paint it, then give it prominence so that you can use the art to share your story with others.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well that was a quote from Mari Ryder, who is an Arunda artist in Alice Springs and has a very unique talent.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Australian Indigenous art is the oldest ongoing art tradition in the world, with ancient rock carvings dating back more than 30,000 years.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Today the quality and variety of authentic Australian Indigenous art reflects the richness and diversity of the culture that it draws on.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Alante Art celebrates and supports the work of talented Indigenous artists from around the Northern Territory, Central Australia and Northeast Island.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: We are proud to present their original artworks for purchase to add to your home or corporate collection, according to Paul, who is one of the art gallery's directors.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: We are launching initially with a style of Central Australia.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: We are on Arunda business, on Auronde Land, and Arande Artist.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Aronde means my story in the East Arundi language.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Phonetically, it is pronounced a year ago.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: My story artist.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, in an exciting first artist and art collectors alike, they are offering people the opportunity to have their story painted by an Aboriginal artist.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: Using a mix of traditional and contemporary techniques, the result is unique, personal, and meaningful.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: It can even be customised to the client's preferred size and colour theme.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: So, Mari, I'm thrilled to have you and Director Paul join us on the What I've Learned podcast.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: How are you today?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm good, thank you.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm very, very interested to talk to you about what you do because actually it's not unlike what I do, which is I write memoirs, and really what you're doing is you're capturing the legacy of story and family's heritage, but in painting, when did you first learn to paint?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me a little bit about that.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: I um used to sit and watch my mum, who is a well-known landscape watercolour paint artist, and I used to sit and watch her do her watercolor, and then she just started painting bushtacker, bush roots of this region and using dots.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I just started doing my own.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And how old were you when you did you used to sit with your mom and did she teach you, or was it more just by osmosis where you just learned watching her?
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I used to just sit and watch her do her paintings, and I was um early 20s when I used to sit and watch her, and then I just started doing my own in my own style.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, your style is quite beautiful.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's a blend, and I can see a blend of ochre, sand, deep reds, beautiful greens.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Are you inspired by the world around you?
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because clearly there's some there's some stunning examples of nature and the way that you capture.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: I can even see the painting behind you is quite beautiful.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: I use um traditional colours to fill in my painting with dots, and that those colours are like the um colours around the bush around me in my country and all around the central region.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: And you love telling other stories, but tell me about yours first.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: How did you grow up and who obviously your mother inspired you, but were there other inspirations?
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me a little bit about growing up for you and where you grew up.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: I um grew up at Santa Teresa Mission, which is about 70k southeast of Dallas.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: Who did you grow up with?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: I grew up with my mum and my stepdad and my stepdad's family grew me up and went to school out there.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: My favorite subject was art all the way.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when I just started painting and still painting.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so Mari, tell me a little bit um about how you grew up.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we you mentioned briefly your mom was a big inspiration, but let's let's just expand a little bit on you know how family and community developed and how they impacted you in terms of what you do.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: My mum's brother was uh like a head stockman working out at Santa Teresa.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: And when when he whenever you you used to go out um mustering, he used to bring back a lot of bush tomatoes that he used to pick on the way.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I used to all have always run after him and get those.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: He used to bring them back in a bag.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: And so the colours of the flowers.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the um I um even went with him and his family to gather some of these bush tomatoes where he used to pick pick them, and I used to see all these purples all around everywhere.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: Of like the purple flower on the bush tomato, and nice grayish, greenish colours all around.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: I can see in the background actually, your your image that you've got that you've painted does actually have beautiful purple flowers.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm assuming that's the sort of flowers you refer to.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's the bush tomato.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Stunning, so beautiful.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so, were there many other community members that loved the idea of storytelling, which is intrinsic to the way that you grew up and to your community?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Telling your story is really fundamental, isn't it?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: To ensuring that those histories and legacies stay in place from generation to generation.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just you know part of the the whole story, yeah, the storytelling and how important it is, both verbally, but also being able to paint it as well.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: Let's other people into your world, but it also trains you up, didn't it?
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um, when I'm doing my paintings, um it I learn about who I am and I learn about my history and the history of my people and how to look after my family when I'm doing my paintings.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: I think think back and how I should look after my family, and I think about how how I I would survive in the bush when I I learned I learned from I know I learned from my grandmother.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: I used to go out bush with my grandmother walking.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't have a car then.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: I was only small.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: My grandmother used to carry me around around the bush when we used picking um bush fruits and bush food.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: I learned from that how to survive in the bush.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: And it brings back a lot of good memories.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: And that's when even when I'm painting, I think back and I think about my grandmother and all the hunting and bushwalking we done.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: So do you think that in a way painting has helped you capture those memories and that history?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: And that's really what you're offering to do for other people.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's really what you are doing for yourself when you paint, but you're offering to do that for others.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm offering to like do paintings for others with traditional and modern style.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And how does the process start?
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say if I wanted to get you to do my family history or to create something for my family, how how does the process start?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: What do you do?
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: So we start off initially by uh you going to our website and sending us an email.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and in that putting your story into five or six sentences, uh, like yeah, yeah, or I guess if you've got a bigger story, perhaps we've got to look at a couple of panels of art, but initially just you know, it's it's it's capturing a brief thing so that then uh when a sketch is done of that brief story, uh, and that the sketch is then sent back, emailed back to you.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: And if you're happy that it's captured uh the main elements that you want in the uh this the story that's being told, then uh you we then get it approved and Murray will start the process of painting it.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: And there's I mean look, I know behind me at the moment you can see the my my story uh that Murray did of mine that's beside, yeah, so it's directly behind me.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: And Murray said that there's about 40 hours of work in in actually painting that.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: And as you can see, it's it's quite large, being 1200 by 900 centimetres and um or millimeters, sorry.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: And so you know there's quite a bit of work that goes into it, but once it's approved in a sketch form, and that might take a bit of toing and froing until we well, till both parties are happy with what's there, and then the the process can begin to paint us.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so what sort of essences do you capture in the family story?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, for example, if I'm doing a memoir, I capture the I interview people and I have various voices, almost like I call it like a prism, where I create all the different shafts of light on that person to help tell their story.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a similar concept and how do you reflect those different, you know, essences of that family story?
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um well, it is there are similarities.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: We we we can't draw out as much in the prism, you know, with so many words, but uh if um so if if we if you wanted to just a lot of my story, and perhaps if I can uh point out a little bit behind me, but it's it's about my wife and I both coming together, but then music has been a big part of our family story.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: So, like Mari did the the boomerangs is the traditional instrument here in Central Australia that are used as clapsticks, and but we've also added a guitar and a double bass to it as well to show some of the instruments that are played within my family.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_02: Now, you might just look at it and go, they're nice to have the boomerang, but in me explaining to you what um you know what is so that the boomerang is actually not just an instrument to uh something to throw, it's also a musical instrument when it's uh banged together, that then you've got the musical concept.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_02: But as I explain that to people, that opens up, then some of those lot shafts of light get shone into it, and people realise how how beautiful the prism is because it's it has been the the melding of two worlds together to create a piece of art that once it's once it's explained, uh the light captures all the different colours that are within it.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: So, really, you're saying you're using imagery that that is historical and culturally grounded in Mari's work and applying it to um new artworks that combine sort of contemporary elements and historical elements, yeah, and traditional elements.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Is that right, Mari?
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I use some um traditional things in the paintings for like when a person tells me their family stories, I use traditional and contemporary um things to make up that painting.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And how beautifully um, you know, you create, I can see what you create is quite beautiful.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, how challenging is it?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: And have you found that there are stories that, you know, obviously will have uh moments of loss and as we as we mentioned in the intro and and challenges, and then it's not all you know positive all the time.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: How do you find reflecting that?
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Is that difficult in in the imagery?
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: And if so, how do you reflect it in imagery?
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like the um if there was uh if a person's told me like how many members are in a family, in their family, and then maybe one or two might pass away.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's sort of sad, and that person sort of um disappears from that picture and there's a loss.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so so in the picture, do you have an emblem that represents any transition of that person or a transition of, you know, do they just literally disappear, or do they have a legacy that you can you know include and continue to reflect in that story?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever I do on the painting stays on the painting, but the person who told me the story knows that that person's gone and not there again, not there anymore.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: So it's interesting because really what you're saying is that that the the painting, the story that you tell is about the people that are here and now and and not so much those that are past.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: Although indigenous art often does reflect historical, it's very in honor of the past.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: So is that something that you reflect in some form in the artwork?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: Through cultural law, it is really um families hurt from it, like when there's a loss and it's touching and emotional to towards urban people.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, it's sort of if they're not if they've passed away, they're not with us anymore.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, it's they miss them a lot and yeah, and I'm sure yeah, sometimes if if there's the footsteps or the uh it's like a horseshoe shaped image person, uh if that if there's two or three of those moving forward, and then if there's one less after that, uh that you know, in a sense, that's not Murray's role to explain why.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_02: But yes, if you if you have that in your piece of art, then that's up to you then to explain why it's gone from three to two to one, even or something as uh and because the the the journey is there, the yes, and and and the ongoingness, but uh there is the loss along the way, which has been portrayed by the people not being there.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: One of the one of the pieces that's on our on our website were and shows the clearly shows the steps of the development of the art was about uh a lady in particular, uh the husband had asked the asked uh Murray to paint this uh about her life, and it was probably three months after uh doing the piece of art that she uh passed away.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but in giving her her, the husband giving his wife this piece of art for her birthday, um, I mean they were they were wrapped with the art, they were so, and it opened up all sorts of conversations with everybody that came into the home, uh, to the point where he said, when I contacted him on hearing about the passing of his wife, he said, Look, it's really been such a blessing to have this piece of art in our home as a focus and a conversation piece.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: And we're even going to look at putting it there as a part of the funeral, leaning against the casket, because again, it's just going to explain who she was, where she's come from, where she's got to.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: And to this point in time, it was a you know a beautiful um homage, like a yeah, yeah, beautiful.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: So that's yeah, that's what I was trying.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I was wondering.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's a beautiful story.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: And in terms of, I suppose, birth and rebirth and renewal, there must be a lot of beautiful um imagery and emblems that you can also reflect.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Mari, what are some of the the uh images that you use to reflect um birth and renewal and and growth?
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I guess this is probably early stages with a lot of this, and and Mari's, while I'm talking, she can think about some of the images that are there.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_02: But what I guess what we need to appreciate too is that there are um there are some images and there are some things that she also won't paint as well, because of uh her authority and right to be able to paint certain things.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: So a lot of the a lot of her trails, a lot of her journeys, a lot of the the gathering of bush food, she is able to to paint in her traditional style and then to meld it with yeah, with some of the contemporary stories, uh is is very very possible, but it's also going to mean that there is the sacred from her side that she won't paint, that she won't share.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um example, what would that be?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, can you give me some example of what that would be?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: Well, it might be that there's some images, uh, like she can only paint some women's stuff that's uh that's she won't paint any of the men's images.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's interesting.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: But her husband, uh Kevin, as you go to the website, his art, while it's still a dot style, his art is very different because he's painting from a man's perspective.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and and so that that gives gives a balance to things.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: And and even where you ask for an example of of a of a of a style that she can't paint, if I I mean I can't tell you what that is because she can't paint it, or she can't share that.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_02: And so what we've got to realize is that while we're we're invited into, I guess, an external world of the indigenous art, but there is some stuff that's that in going deeper without us having gone through ceremony or uh initiation processes, we will never be a part of that.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: And and I respect that and um just make the most of the art that we are invited into.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, it sounds like a wonderful thing to do.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: And if somebody's interested in getting their um family story painted, um, first of all, what sort of um have you got some indication?
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, on your website, they can go to what's the website, Paul?
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_02: The the website is called a year at chin art.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: Now, look, one of the awkward things with Arunder, the Arunder language is that it's often not how it's it's not pronounced how it how it looks.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_02: So um it a y e y e a t y e-n-h e ar t.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: So a year, which a y e-y e that means my a chin.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: A year means story.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_02: Ah, there you go.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: You so it's story, my art.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: So what's written in Arunda and is vice versa in English?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh a yeah, chin, a year means story, and a chin means my.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: Right, okay, it's reversed.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I understand.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so they can go to the website and hopefully people and then is it something how long does it take for your family story to be painted?
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_02: Uh look, we would we would hope that um that it might be uh three or four weeks.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um and it look it will depend upon the demand.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: If if Mari has like uh you know 10 pieces to do and each one takes a week, it may take a bit longer.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: But again, that's where we're also looking that this is going to uh we would love to have you know 10 orders at the moment because then we can start um employing other indigenous artists such as Murray's family that can come in and assist with that.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm never going to pick up a paintbrush because that's not my role or responsibility.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_02: I'll do the administration, but I can guarantee that the art will be totally done by indigenous people.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_02: And Mari will be the guider in through all this, and she will do the outlines, she'll do the sketches, but it may be that if the demand gets great, that we'll have others coming in and doing some of the dotting to assist with being able to get it out faster.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: And can you give us some idea of what sort of what would this sort of thing cost, roughly?
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, again, it's it's on the website, but it it'll depend upon the size of the art.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: We're looking that uh to do to buy some some of Mari's traditional or Kevin's traditional stories, uh, the sizes will vary a bit and and the prices, but we're looking to start the painting other people's stories, would start at um uh about$2,700 for a piece that uh from memory I think is about uh$90 by 60.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_02: And then as the art gets bigger, the price goes up until like something the size of uh mine that's sitting beside behind me, which is$1,200 by$900, that's that's about$3,700.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: Right, that's a good indication.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it sounds like a wonderful gift for people and a really beautiful thing that you do, Maria.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: I love your artwork.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think you're very talented, and I think to be able to tell people's stories in this way, it's really you know a blessing.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: And hopefully um there will be plenty of people contacting you, and I wish you luck and thank you so much for your time and coming on the What I've Learned Podcast.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Steve.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: The What I've Learned Podcast will now be coming to you weekly with new episodes released every Tuesday.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm blessed to have so many wonderful guests coming on the show.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: So check out my What I've Learned Instagram for updates.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, stay tuned, kind, and curious.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: Love Dev.