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Greenslopes’ new artwork to celebrate NAIDOC week
Nov 20, 2020
A beautiful new indigenous artwork will take pride of place in the main foyer at Greenslopes Private Hospital to celebrate NAIDOC Week.
Contemporary Indigenous artist Wendy Rix was commissioned to paint the canvas, which acknowledges how the hospital successfully navigated the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms Rix said it was very special to be commissioned by Greenslopes Private, as she’d carried out part of her nursing training there in the late 1980s.
“To paint on site felt wonderful because I can just feel the painting better, and it was great to have lots of people stop and talk and ask about the piece,” Ms Rix said.
“I was there on Remembrance Day too and that’s very special to me because I’m an ex-military nurse and with Greenslopes being a repatriation hospital in the past, everything seemed to tie together,” she said.
Ms Rix said the painting, titled ‘Together in 2020’ is about the journey everyone has come through this year.
“It’s all symbolic. The red cross in the middle represents the hospital and pays homage to its repatriation history. The small U-shapes represent the people and they’re gathering in the middle, they’re the essential workers, while the areas of three larger U-shapes represent social distancing. The four U-shapes in the corners represent the isolation experienced by some, both physically and mentally,” Ms Rix explained.
“People asked how I came up with colours for the painting and I just remember the jacarandas in the area being in full bloom so that’s how I came up with the purple tones and I tied that with the closest blue I could find to the Greenslopes colours.”
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic this year, NAIDOC Week was held from 8 - 15th November. It is usually held in the first week of July to incorporate the second Friday of that month which historically was celebrated as National Aboriginal Day.
Contemporary Indigenous artist Wendy Rix presenting her painting titled ‘Together in 2020’ to Greenslopes Private Hospital CEO, Chris Went