Some 38,000 people go missing in Australia each year. 2,000 of those people are missing long-term. It’s an absolutely gut-wrenching statistic when you consider those who never know what happened to a person that they care about.
The Unmissibles is a new six-part documentary project that aims to use art to reignite the search for missing people. The show follows the pairing of three artists with the families and friends of three long-term missing persons. After spending time with those closest to the missing person, each artist gets a feel for the missing person and creates a portrait according to their own artistic practice.
The artists are contemporary artist Joel Moore (aka Vans the Omega), sculptor Pimpisa Tinpalit and singer-songwriter Jess Ribeiro. While exploring the lives of each person, and honouring them with a portrait, the artists confront some pretty heavy ideas around loss, empathy, and hope.
After bingeing on the show, I wanted to know more about it, so I hit up Vans the Omega to get his take on this life-changing experience.
Hey Vansy, congrats on the show. I just watched all six episodes and it’s got me feeling a little some way.
It’s a slow creeper this show and will grab the heartstrings pretty tight by the end of the show, especially if you’re a parent.
Let’s jump in. How did you get involved in this project? I know talking on camera is not something you love doing, was that something that you considered going in? Tell me generally how this all came about.
Band Camp, a film production company from Melbourne hit me up and had been following my work for a while. The director talked me through the idea and a bit of background about Ryan. Hearing about his life I felt immediately connected in so many ways and had that ‘It’s meant to be’ moment for sure. Pretty soon after I was asked, they confirmed me as one of three artists to feature in The Unmissables documentary.
You were paired up with Dianne and Jock Chambers, the mum and dad of missing person Ryan Chambers. As the series progressed there were some parallels between yourself and Ryan. Tell me about this, and also what was the process of selecting the missing persons and pairing them with the artists?
The pairing of artist to missing person was done in house via the production company. They obviously had a feeling about each artist and followed through on the initial decision of who they matched us with. How the three missing persons, including Ryan, were chosen in the first place I’m not so sure of. The fact that they are long term missing person cases, and all of an age that they could possibly still be with us must be a factor.The parallels between Ryan and I were many. We both are seekers of the deep answer of life. Why we are here and what it all means universally. We were in India only a month apart when he went missing, and we are both artists. A lot of the things I read in Ryan’s diary I could relate to and were so similar to my own experiences.
Ryan was last seen in Rishikesh, India in 2015. You’ve travelled quite a few times to India, and I know it’s been quite a transformative destination for you. Tell us more about your trips to India and the impact they have had on you creatively and spiritually?
In 2003, 2004, and 2005 I travelled to India for up to a month at a time. Most of the work was on learning from spiritual teachers, meditation, and other deep conscious techniques to help elevate the human conditioning. I would head to different Ashrams and take classes and learn from people from around the world who had gathered to speak about evolution of the mind.
Many of the techniques practiced have changed my life forever, and very unexpected. It bought me closer to myself and helped me understand many aspects of what we perceive as mundane living. Mainly it all related to what is commonly known as enlightenment – in which I found to be just a simple natural state of being, outside of the constant egoic state of mind that drags us in every direction except where we are in the very moment.By no means am I saying that I am, in fact, enlightened but can say I have experienced a sense of its understanding and raised awareness.
Your last trip to India was just a couple of months before his disappearance. You mentioned that you could relate to his disillusionment in visiting such an overwhelming place. Can you elaborate more on that? Having visited India, and also having heard Ryan’s story.
Yeah, I found many things to be so beautiful in India, but there is always a flip side as there is to most things. For every truth I found, I also saw, felt, and experienced deception, charlatans, and many dark things about a truly spiritual-rich place. I know Ryan had faced this very aspect just before he went missing, and know from experience the fine line people tread once the bubble is broken inside and out while experiencing a heightened sense of being.
When you delve into things that are not of general understanding or based on previous experience a strong mind is so crucial.
The show follows another two artists’ interactions with the loved ones of missing persons. Did you have any contact with the other two creatives during or after the process?
No, but I really hope we have the chance to connect soon. I have a feeling this project will grow and become something larger in time.
Pimpisa Tinpalit, the sculptor, spoke of losing her Dad, and moving away from Thailand to escape the hurt. In her case, there’s closure around what happened – I imagine it’s so much harder when you just don’t even know what happened to the person you care about. To quote Pimpisa; “People who live with hope, that’s a more difficult life.” How has your own life’s journey helped prepare you to relate to the family throughout this process?
In an empathic way, I can relate and put my father hat on. It’s been such a journey for the families and only time has healed many of the wounds and questions.
Di particularly has got an amazing perspective on the entire thing now and has done a lot of personal development and soul searching over many years to reach her current state of mind and strength in working through the loss of her son Ryan.
Can you speak a little bit about the internal dialogue that helped inform your finished mural? You’re big on energy, and what I would call ‘universe shit’, and I know you visited his hometown, gathered reference photos, and even ‘talked’ to Ryan, inwardly, through the process. You also gathered some of Ryan’s illustrations from his visual diaries, which included quotes such as ‘what is missing’, and the final reference shows Ryan ‘holding on’. How did this input reconcile itself?
In order for me to paint anything, I have to have a certain amount of understanding and connection. The time spent around Jock, Di and his family home helped me get a truer sense of Ryan. How he was. The diaries were pure insights, art, passion, and internal battles. Not having Ryan there in person to give me the insights I relied on trying to connect with his spirit through these material things left behind. So I talked to him as if he was standing next to me during the process and let my intuition guide the feeling of response. It reconciles itself with the reaction of Jock at the end of the documentary. An incredible moment for us all.
Your mural of Ryan was painted on the front of Barnett’s General Store in Cadell, South Australia. From what I can tell, the family lives in Mt Gambier, which is over five hours away. I love that you mentioned that the physical mural itself is just a “drop in the ocean, but the ripples reach wide.” Why did you choose this location as the initial ‘drop’?
The owners of the general store put their hand up to donate the wall out of great care and humanity. MPAN had put a call out and they responded. The connected part is that the owners Lynn and Gordan were so perfect in this puzzle. The nature and love they showed me and the community is epic. They helped make the painting aspect, for me, so beautiful because of their support and energy.
The show’s premise is around using art to help reignite the search for these missing people. Beyond generating awareness, I imagine this process must have been quite cathartic for Ryan’s parents. Almost like you gave them a small piece of their son back. Dianne said you captured ‘the essence of Ryan’ and Jock felt connected again. There was a lot of talk of the families carrying the loss every day. Do you feel that the process itself was just as important? Even if they can’t find Ryan, this mural in some way ‘keeps his spirit alive’, or perhaps even provides some level of closure?
I won’t assume what it could mean but I will put it this way; many people contacted me to let me know they would contact their parents and let them know they are ok. Like I said the ripples are far-reaching and the outcomes diverse. Awareness again for me is one of the biggest factors I had in my role being a small part of this project. Missing person networks need more funding with the massive numbers, in the thousands, that go missing permanently every year in Australia alone.
This project must have taken some psychological toll on you? Now that the show is out, and you’ve had time to reflect, how do you feel about the project? How did it help you grow as an artist and a person?
It was a massive task mentally and at different times weighed on me for sure. Mainly I put a lot of pressure on myself regarding the artwork and doing everyone justice. I’ve grown so much and want to push further with my artwork and make sure the connection is there to be felt in the work I create.
What’s the reaction been like to your mural, and the show? Have any new leads been generated as a result?
The reaction has been really overwhelming. I put myself outside of a viewer as such and in some ways didn’t realise how many people it would touch so deeply.
As far as results we will have to wait and see.
What’s next for you and the families?
We keep the awareness alive and keep growing in life.Cheers bro
The Unmissables is now streaming on ABC iview. Australian viewers can watch the series online here: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/art-bites-the-unmissables
Follow VANS the OMEGA on Instagram: @vanstheomega
Luke Shirlaw is the founder of Artillery Projects – a graffiti art publisher, and visual studio specialising in mural production, graphic design, and content creation. Follow him on Instagram, or subscribe to Artillery’s ‘The Drop’ for exclusive email interviews.