St Arnaud, Kyle Torney

About the work

The Silos at St Arnaud were painted by Ktorney Art, aka, Kyle Torney, a local resident of St Arnaud who is dedicated to the promotion of his town through tourism.
Titled ‘Hope’, Kyle has told the story of three pioneer residents of St Arnaud, a former gold mining town, situated between Ballarat and Mildura. During the 1800’s ‘Hope’ was about a miner looking for a fleck of gold in his pan, ‘Hope’ for his wife, will she will be able to buy food and clothing for her family and ‘Hope’ that a young child will prosper.

The first image on the silos portrays a miner gazing at his pan as something shiny appears amidst the swirling sand, gravel, and water. His hope may be fulfilled. If you look carefully, you may see the glint of gold in his eye. The second image is the miner’s wife with their child in the background. They are at home and for them hope is not for a fortune, but for enough to buy food and the other necessities of life.

Kyle has also painted many wall murals throughout the town. Through the pieces, he uses images of people to amplify powerful, untold stories about those that have made our town what it is today.