War Paint: Ben Quilty

Last night the ABC aired an episode of Australian Story dedicated to Australian artist, Ben Quilty. Ben Quilty is an Archibald prize winning artist and a very well-respected painter.

After winning the Archibald in 2011 for his portrait of fellow artist, Margaret Olley, Ben Quilty was approached by the Australian War Memorial who offered him the position of Australia's official war artist. As stated on the Australian War Memorial's website, "the term 'official war artist' is used to describe artists who have been expressly employed by either the Australian War Memorial or the Army Military History Section." Quilty accepted this position and spent one month in Afghanistan with Australian soldiers, documenting, through sketches and paintings, what he saw.

I had planned on watching this episode of Australian Story merely because it was on an artist I loved, but had not realised what the focus of the episode would be on. In fact, I had never even heard of the concept of an "official war artist." What I got out of the episode was so much more than I had expected. It was unbelievably moving. Listening to the stories of soldiers who had experienced so much trauma and sadness really affected me, forcing me, as Quilt also did, to reassess my "anti-war" sentiments. Nothing is black and white and unrealistically reducing war to this is not fair on the young Australian men and women deployed at the moment.

What makes a great artist is essentially their emotional intelligence - their ability to read people. Air Commodore John Oddie (Ret), FMR Deputy Commander, Joint Forces Middle East, made some very profound comments in the interview in regards to Quilty's ability to read the soldiers. Talking about the trauma he had experienced as a soldier, he stated: "You're naturally going to feel it in your heart. You're going to feel it right there. And you'll carry that with you. You can't go back and not be that person when you leave. You are that person, you take it on, and many of us take that forward. So Ben sees that in us. There's no doubt that Bens sees those, that we've had to carry those bad moments." Some of John Oddie's comments brought me to tears - his honesty was devastatingly powerful.

If you are only going to watch one video I have posted on my Blog, make it this one! I recommend it whole-heartedly.

Click here to watch the episode

Captain S after Afghanistan, oil on linen, 210 x 230 cm