Inmate artists use painting to tell stories of faith and family

Art has given prison inmates a way to reflect on family, faith and their lives while serving their sentences, with their paintings carrying messages of hope and change.

Inmate artist Isoa Codrokadroka said his painting, In My DNA, represented the importance of family and its role in shaping people’s lives.

The painting featured a man, a woman and a child, which he said represented a family.

“Everything starts with family,” Mr Codrokadroka said.

He said conversations with friends about the challenges they faced had inspired the artwork, particularly stories of people seeking freedom because of unstable families.

Mr Codrokadroka said the painting had also challenged him to reflect on his own life and the changes he needed to make.

He said that if Fiji wanted a better future, families needed to love and remain together because they were the “centre of hope”.

Fellow inmate artist Vishal Krishna said his artwork was inspired by his faith in God, whom he described as a shepherd who watched over and protected people.

Mr Krishna said he had never painted before entering the gallery but learnt to create artwork while serving his sentence.

He said painting had helped him cope with prison life by giving him something positive to focus on instead of constantly worrying about life outside.

Mr Krishna said he had been involved in the art exhibition for three years.

He said each painting carried a different story and that he hoped visitors would ask about the meaning behind the artworks so he could share how painting had helped him.

“Every painting has our story about it,” Mr Krishna said.