Preparing work for the exhibition was a steep learning curve, he says. It followed his release from prison and re-integration into society earlier this year, and was put together with few resources and very little knowledge.
He did, however, have the support of several people and organisations, including Toi Ora Live Art Trust and its director, Erwin Van Asbeck, and the people at Te Karanga Gallery and the Depot Artspace.
“I wept the day Erwin and I hung the paintings in the gallery,” Bryan recalls. “I had never seen the works all together like that and it was overwhelming – a dream come true.”
Erwin says that Bryan “worked prodigiously” while he was in prison. “When he came out, he was very focussed on having an exhibition of work that reflected his time inside.”
Picking up the positive threads
These days, Bryan is focussed on making a living from his art and picking up the positive threads of his life. His key goal is to be reunited with his three children, whom he hasn’t seen for ten years, plus his first grandchild.
..
..
“They live with extended family in Australia. I’m in close communication with them and send them a lot of my paintings but I miss them terribly,” he says.
Bryan started painting when he was 16 and had left school. Now aged 52, he’s still painting.
“Painting has always been the best way for me to express myself,” he says. “It creates an emotional connection between the viewer and the creator. I also like the spontaneity of people’s reactions to my work.”
Young Māori prisoners, for instance, watched him as he worked.
“My work’s very contemporary and sometimes a bit off the wall. Many of them had seen only traditional Māori art and carvings, and so my work was very different,” he explains. “ Their immediate reaction was ‘Wow, that’s freaky’. They started coming to art classes and learning different techniques they hadn’t been exposed to. They really went for it. It was like ‘If he can do it, so can I’.”
High-quality art materials
Early on in prison, a friend sent him high-quality art materials – paints, brushes, paper. Eventually, he was able to start using them. “Once I got to minimum status, things started opening up for me because people could see that I was genuine. Staff and management supported my request for education and self-development programmes beyond what was on offer.
“I also worked with the librarian to start up a book club, and it just grew and grew. We read some wonderful literature. Then I got weekly art classes going, which attracted more resources and tools, along with a local professional art tutor.” The art classes and book club fired Bryan’s imagination, and enabled him to explore new ideas, techniques and media within a safe environment.
“It gave me hope and opportunities. It stimulated my social conscience and motivated me to change my life,” he says. “I learned that the only way to change a bad habit is to replace it with a good one.”
Now on the outside, Bryan is still making things happen. He’s diversifying into mosaics, digital art, traditional carving and fabric printing.
As well as attending Toi Ora Live Art Trust a couple of times a week, Bryan is involved as a volunteer in Psychiatric Survivors and in the Framework Trust. He’s also in the process of re-establishing his clothing and design business.
“To achieve things, you need to reach out,” he says. “There are a lot of people willing to help – something I learned from being inside.”
