2020 IB Extended Essays

Ryan Presley Born to the Marri Ngarr mob of Alice Springs, artist Ryan Presley uses his artwork to both audit and critique his ancestry as a means of interrogating the politics of Indigenous culture. As well as celebrating a culture that has recently been concealed and supressed, his work distinctly alludes to the political inheritance of Indigenous art. Using a variety of artistic mediums from oil paintings to sculptural pieces, Presley negates both historical and contemporary contexts.

His father was a Marri Ngarr man from Alice Springs whilst his mother’s family were

Scandinavian immigrants. Spending his childhood in public housing, his family’s

financial struggles and his mixed race background played a pivotal role in the

Presley’s dire need to discuss how the effect s of colonialism and dispossession

continue to function within the Australian economy ( Ryan Presley By Artist Profile, 2018 ). In 2016, Presley completed what is one of his most acclaimed collections of work, Blood Money . Using visual cues from Australia's banknotes, Presley creates a roving installation that stimulates a real-life currency booth on a scale far larger than the wallet-sized prints.

Ryan Presley, Blood Money, 2016.