Sands & Stones May Break My Bones

Initially approached by the Director of Maitland Regional Gallery, I was asked to consider producing an external wall piece to accompany the 2021 ‘Shadow Boxer’ group exhibition there. Specifically, a homage to the Australian ‘Ali’, Dave Sands of the famed Sands Brothers from Kempsey, NSW. This was an immeasurable honour as I worked closely with the famous boxers Grandson, Chad Ritchie-Sands, a blood cousin of mine.

Our Dhungatti totem is the Praying Mantis, a fearless insect predator and known for its gracefulness and ferocity. And so in my trademarked ‘shatter pattern’, I created the graphic background which typically represents the ‘fragmenting’ of culture. In this case it became an unconscious double entendre in that, Dave Sands died in a tragic truck accident which overturned on an bridge in Dungog, NSW.