Solid Lines
From iconic art agency Jacky Winter comes Solid Lines – the first illustration art agency solely for supporting First Nation Australian artists.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson I Photography : Courtesy of Jacky Winter
The Jacky Winter team in their Collingwood, Melbourne studio. Photo: Courtesy of Jacky Winter
‘The long-term goal is to build on the very first foundation of supporting young artists in the bush and looking to provide the best opportunities as possible to our current and future artists,’ says Emrhan Tjapanangka Sultan. Artwork by Solid Lines artist Tori-Jay Mordey.
‘I’m really excited to see Solid Lines change the face of Australia’s design and commercial art industries. First Nations voices have so often been marginalise or exploited within these spaces, so I’m looking forward to the industry changing as we First Nations voices be rightfully seen as the face of Australian design and illustration,’ says Nicola St John, pictured with Jeremy Wortsman and Emrhan Tjapanangka Sultan from The Jacky Winter Group. Photo: Courtesy of Jacky Winter
‘Being the first of its kind within the Australian landscape is a really big deal and I couldn't be anymore excited to be involved in this journey and to see the careers of our artists flourish by a community-led business,’ says Emrhan Tjapanangka Sultan. Artwork Solid Lines artist by Janelle Burger.
‘Given all the other conversations that have happened in recent years around reconciliation and inclusion, Solid Lines offers an amazing and easy to leverage opportunity for all Australian businesses to really step up and put their money where their mouth is and commission some great First Nations artists,’ says Jeremy Wortsman. Artwork Solid Lines artist by Janelle Burger.
Solid Lines was first thought up after the Black Lives Matter movement launched worldwide as Jacky Winter’s managing director Jeremy Wortsman wanted to change the treatment and recognition of First Nation people in Australia.
After putting together their ‘Statement of Commitment to the First Nations People of Australia’, Jeremy realised he had a wealth of knowledge and connections in supporting the talent and careers of artists. And so, together with researcher and academic Nicola St John and Luritja and Kokatha artist Emrhan Tjapanangka Sultan they decided to create a platform for First Nation illustration artists in Australia.
The idea of a First Nations illustration agency first materialised during Nicola’s 2019 residency in Jacky Winter Gardens, where she and Jeremy discussed the options for the representation of First Nation artists. ‘[Nicola] was bringing iPads into these remote communities and seeing some of the digital art that was coming out of this work was really inspiring,’ says Jeremy.
‘It just seemed like an obvious question to ask — the First Nations people of Australia have some of the richest storytelling and art practices in history. It's literally an unbroken lineage of practice,’ he continues. Nicola adds, ‘for me, the long-term vision for Solid Lines is to support the next generations of First Nations creatives around Australia — to put into action our plans to ‘give back to community’ and establish the capacity building arm of Solid Lines.’
Together with Emrhan Tjapanangka Sultan — an artist and a long-time collaborator of Nicola’s involved in the Ntaria design workshops, who was introduced to lead the concept in partnership with the Jacky Winter Group — Solid Lines was developed to represent these artists for commercially-led work.
Artwork by Solid Lines artist Tori-Jay Mordey.
Artwork by Gudanji/Wakaja Solid Lines artist Ryhia Dank.
Coming from a long lineage of artists in the Western Desert, Emrhan grew up surrounded by artists who used their art as a platform for traditional stories. Through these experiences, he was exposed to fake Aboriginal art, cultural appropriation, and the monetisation of their traditional stories in art—something he set out to raise awareness of while supporting the vision of First Nation artist and their mediums.
‘During the beginning stages of starting Solid Lines, we had engaged and sought feedback from the artists to hear what they needed from the agency — things like culture support, having an agency that is transparent, supporting community projects, how they would like to be managed,’ says Emrhan.
Jeremy goes on to explain, ‘The ultimate heart of this project came from our desire to give our knowledge away back to the original custodians of the land that we have such a huge debt to.’
As such, the eventual plan is to have Solid Lines independent from Jacky Winter, while replicating their successful business model, avoiding years of planning. ‘Through a lengthy consultation process, we determined that this staged approach would be the most effective, allowing Jacky Winter to effectively incubate the agency by covering all the initial outlay and expenses and get income coming in quickly,’ Jeremy says.
With artists such as NAIDOC 2022 artist Ryhia Dank, established illustrator Tori-Jay Mordey, and muralist jeswri joining alongside a collection of exciting emerging artists, this seems more than likely—even more so considering Jeremy’s longstanding commitment to nurturing the talents of some of Australia’s most successful illustrators.
Nicola concludes, ‘The early seeds of the project grew from a remote Aboriginal community with little access to design education. I’m excited for Solid Lines to go full circle and be able to support and nurture the amazing talent within Australia’s First Nations communities and enable them to see a pathway into a creative career that is culturally enriching and economically sustainable.’