Sydney has become this place where everyone is just so busy surviving that doing anything remotely interesting or a bit cooked is out of the question. The amount of tedious conversations over the years about family property sales tinged with regret would drive anyone out of their minds. Then A.I came along and made cheesy pizzas look even cheesier.

Yet even people from overseas have it even worse where chasing dollars is the new normal and creative people are grinding. Worldwide dollar chasing please give us all a break.

On another note there were places like Namadjira housing commissions, Hillsdale, Lapa, Long Bay Gaol where my Dad would walk me to when I was a kid and my sister has memories when my Dad was a social worker at Long Bay Gaol playing with the local kids. My Dad just loved lurking around all of these spots. He had many spots. To think at the prime of my life I decided to revisit these places, take photos, do graffiti and meet mates in the housos to have a coffee instead of trying to meet the call of greatness.

I loved the way you had total creative freedom. We painted almost every wall, any spot in the middle of the day and people appreciated it. Eventually a lot of the youth tried their hand at painting in the area and it did get out of hand after a few years. Then quite a while later narks moved in and would tell you off. Yet all they did was keep the bar low. Then things lifted again. It was always going to change from one creative extreme to complete chaos.

Eventually the real work that was going on was a massive therapy session. Dealing with a difficult past, the mental illness, my parents, the way my Dad introduced all of these places to me and how in a way my art practice which in these places was mostly illegal made me reconcile and accept the past and ultimately move on and feel happy about life. Even though I haven’t jumped through the acceptable hoops I feel quite accomplished which might look like arrogance or even stupidity but at least I didn’t reject everything and jump in the Range Rover and get stuck in a gated suburb lol.