The painting showcases the natural beauty of the Gold Coast with Grandfather Sun shining over our beautiful Mother’s golden beaches, crystal clear waters and lush rainforest hinterlands whilst sharing the knowledge of our old people. Their knowledge which was gained through observing and being with nature. This guided their ways and created strong and healthy communities. This opposes the disconnection experienced by many that unfortunately has led to the high number of suicides in particular within our First Nation communities.

The centre piece symbolises body, mind and spirit/consciousness and in particular captures the upcoming gathering (IASP 31st World Congress) and its primary focus on how we help those in need find their way to a place where these three elements can be harmonious within.

The animals represent both people coming far and near to the conference as well as sharing the wisdom gained by the artist through observing their ways. Each animal shares a story that demonstrates the protective factors within First Nation people’s connection to land and culture. The mibunn (sea eagle) possesses the virtue of patience which is demonstrated by its way of catching julum (fish). The booning (echidna) shows us the importance of not imposing our ways and living off the land in its natural form. The gurruman (kangaroo) shows us the importance of family/community and how their incredibly strong social and family dynamics are crucial to their survival. The bingeeng (sea turtle) spends the majority of its life alone equally delivering a message that we have our own path and to not follow others blindly without some internal investigation first which is extremely important in these current misleading times we are living in today. Lastly, the gowonda (dolphin) shares with us the importance of joy and how simply this can be found within nature. This is also strongly demonstrated by First Nation people and how they often use joy in the form of humour to help manage the up and downs of life.