Leigh Oates

This painting was done when I worked with a group of Aboriginal students. I explained to them the importance of working in a group much like ants do when building and maintaining a nest. Then there are times when you can achieve a goal by working alone like the Echidna. The interesting thing is that these two creatures are completely opposite but are connected. The centre circle represents the goal we wanted to achieve and the ants and echidna represent how we worked together and as individuals to reach that goal. The arms leading out to the hand stencils represent the connection we all had when working together. The hand stencils are the hand stencils of the students I worked with.