Artist – Andrew Doyle

Andrew Doyle is a Jiman (Iman) man from the Upper Dawson region of eastern central Queensland. Andrew was born at Mackay Base Hospital, with a strong historical connection to the Mackay, Whitsunday and Isaac regions. He is an Aboriginal artist, dancer, cultural knowledge expert and First Nations sportsperson. Andrew’s artwork was selected to represent Health Equity because of the vibrant colours and as the land water and sea in the painting, depicted the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Nation cultures and the Australian South Sea Islander culture within the region.

Artwork Story

The design is based around the local landscapes and waters, and features traditional medicines and healing practices. The colours represent the environment, with the greens from where the Pioneer River starts from in the rainforests of the Pioneer Valley through to the earthy, sandy colours of our bushlands and beaches which the Pioneer River flows through and then finally the blues of the ocean where the Pioneer River finishes.

Where the river starts in the Pioneer Valley you can see there are dots in a pattern that resemble the freshwater creeks and streams where they have rocks, boulders, rapids and waterfalls. Then the river flows down into the bushlands and beaches and the dot pattern represents the scrub plains and our sandy beaches. Where the river finishes flowing into the ocean the dot pattern represents its tides and waves.

The top left-hand corner is a representation of both a medicine man healing the members of his tribe and elders supporting the next generation through mental health. In the top right there are branches of a Gumbi tree which is traditional medicine to our people. The benefits of Gumbi have been well documented and it is still used today.

In the middle of the design is a representation of our community and surrounding communities working together to better the health or our people. We are all facing challenges, but we are helping our people to get through it. The bottom right-hand corner represents the three cultures that reside in our community, some traditional foods, the tools that we need to get through life and our connection to culture that we still practice today. The animal tracks that border the river are the animals that you would find in their respective environments. Traditional foods are a vital source of our health but also have healing properties in their fats and oils.