Ryan Presley

Ryan Presley is an Indigenous visual artist from Queensland. Ryan’s work is an exploration of societal power structures and perceptions. In his work, Ryan explores the concept of how traditions and views are formed, who this benefits and who this discredits.

Presley's series entitled 'Blood Money' is one that immediately caught my interest. Its bold, in your face message is so powerful that I feel if publicised properly, it could make a big difference in today's society which is filled with cultural imbalance and lack of understanding.

                                                       'Blood Money',

 2010, Ryan Presley

http://www.janmantonart.com/  accessed  07/09/12

The way I interpret this body of work is that our actual currency contains the faces of highly regarded people within society that have become renowned for services they have contributed to the development of the Australian colony. However, if this is the case, why is it that there are very few Indigenous Australians pictured on our currency? They for example, are the true inhabitants of Australia, this is their country; we came here thousands of years after they were already here so why don't they get any recognition on the face of their country's currency? Instead, these people shed blood for reasons that they did not understand, and couldn't comprehend after the white settlers arrived on Australian soil. They paid the ultimate sacrifice.

This relates to the exploitation of the work by Yolngu/Manharrngu bark painter David Malangi Daymirringu of the Australian one dollar note which was used without his permission, let alone knowledge. He was then paid a year later with an unacceptable amount for the application of work which wouldn't be acceptable in today's society, and would never had have happened if a non-Indigenous had designed the note - they would have been paid a healthy amount for their work.

http://www.artstartgrant.com.au/ArtStarters/Current/51?name=Ryan%20Presley