Open up your heart

With solidarity as its theme, the 2023 Art from the Heart of the Cross exhibition appears to have settled in after relocating from Kings Cross to Redfern.

Now in its third year at 107 Projects, Art from the Heart features 139 works created by the clients of the Kings Cross Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC), and, as in previous years,  the event displays an extraordinary depth of talent across multiple mediums.

Opened this year by Lord Mayor Clover Moore and MP for Sydney Alex Greenwich the show will also run a silent auction until October 8th, with all proceeds going to the artists.

“One of the main things that I see that Art from the Heart does is to give a sense of accomplishment, and it improves self esteem,” Art from the Heart coordinator, James Mulholland said.

“It is great for them to say ‘I have my art up in a gallery that has been acknowledged by Clover Moore and Alex Greenwich attending, and it is not in a small venue but as part of the City of Sydney and the city.”

Taz is a MSIC long term client and has been entering the show yearly since 2018, but this year he chose to play the piano during the opening event.

He acknowledges the power of practicing art and having it shown as a powerful step in his long and hard fought road to becoming drug free.

“Putting paint to canvas was really cathartic for me,” Taz said.

“I was shooting three hard shots of ice a day, and seven days before the competition I was spending 12 hours a day on the works without having a shot, and I got creative.”

Mulholland acknowledges that there is a place for art therapy in the role to recovery.

“What we do is use art as a tool for engagement, and we are allowing people to express themselves through art.”

One of the winners is Megan Moses, who has been caring for her father who is in the late stages of dementia.

Her work titled Dementia is one of the most powerful images in the show.

“I have been witnessing up close the many changes taking place in his mind and body,” Moses said.

She has also turned the spotlight on her own body dysmorphia, having inherited a large nose from both her parents that caused her a lot of issues growing up.

“I came across a book of black and white photographs of beauty queens at the turn of the century, and lo and behold, there I was, image after image of women with features similar to mine, including generous noses,” Moses said.

Turning to confront that particular issue Moses painted a startling self portrait centred on her nose.

Other artists turned to subjects as varied as the band, The Doors, streetscapes, landscapes and a strong representation of Aboriginal inspired art.

Many of the works have been made possible by donations of paint and materials.

A foreword in the show’s catalogue sums up Art from the Heart’s central message saying: “Our use of substances does not define us — what matters is how we think, what we do and what we care about, how we connect, and all that we share.”

 Exhibition on until September 30

107, 107 Redfern St, Redfern

www.uniting.org/artfromtheheart

Silent Auction online until October 8

www.uniting.org/artfromtheheart/bid-form