By Jesse Graham
THE work of a Healesville artist is adorning the walls of a new prison, after being selected to paint three large murals at the Karreenga Correctional Facility in August.
Paul Sonsie, of Sonsie Studios, was selected to paint three large pieces at the correctional facility in August, ahead of its 16 September opening.
He, Josh Fradley and Sean Paris completed the works, including a man in a striped prison uniform drawing a house, among other pieces, over about four months.
Mr Sonsie said the pieces were inspired by works a street artist had painted inside a prison in Norway, and that he hoped the pieces would “humanise” the space for inmates.
“All the prisoners in there, I’m never going to know their true story, or what they’re in there for – but they’re all human, and they’re just like you and me, really,’ he said.
“To have artwork that sort-of humanises their environment … it’s a positive thing, really.”
He said it was difficult to come up with concepts for the murals, knowing that the target audience would be viewing the works at all hours of the day.
“If it was for any kind of public wall, it’s kind of free run; I can … come up with with anything, really,” he said.
“It’s such a controlled and touchy environment … like any job, you get a brief, it can’t be too political and it can’t be something that would date too quick – it couldn’t have any sort of hardy, escape messages to it.”
The prison opened as a medium-security facility, but will be downgraded to low-security by November, with inmates taught cooking, cleaning, gardening and budgeting skills as part of their rehabilitation.
As with one of Mr Sonsie’s other pieces, a large ibis painted on a wall in Healesville’s east end, he said he projected a stencil of the final work onto the walls, to make sure the piece came out perfectly.
“It’s a similar thing, which is cool,” he said.
“I reckon it’s the biggest project that I’ve done … it’s the biggest, in scale, work that I’ve done – it’s probably the most interesting job that I’ve done and I’ve learned so much along the way.”
