Glenn Barry - Learning himself and his heart
Glenn Barry is an artist in all senses of the word, martial artist, sculptor, musician, painter, healer as well as the Deputy Chair Council of Elders for Griffith University. When I asked him how he likes to be introduced, he said, “tell them – I’m learning myself”
I’m very captivated by the way Glenn speaks, and holds a conversation – or more the point – doesn’t hold a conversation. Glenn never seems to speak about anything in a linear fashion, instead, he offers you an idea on a plate, and like turning a Lazy Susan moves on to the next dish before you’ve even figured out what he’s given you… but it all comes full circle.
This video portrait is an accompaniment to the below painting. I wanted to give an insight into the way Glenn thinks, the way he follows his heart and his deep connection to his soul’s journey and a world beyond our comprehension. His name ‘Glenn’ means Valley, and he considers himself a bridge between two worlds – the Western world and the indigenous realm.
He grew up knowing nothing of his indigenous background and identified as Irish until his mid-20’s when an elder questioned his heritage causing an out-of-body experience for Glenn. In an instant, he’s entire reality changed, yet it brought clarity and sense to an intuitive feeling he had known his entire life. As he says in the film “this conversation is about the history of me, but it’s also about the feeling without the facts that get confirmed later on”
And this is one of Glenn’s most endearing qualities, for a man that appears stoic and impenetrable, he is actually completely ruled by his heart, and his life’s journey has been one of deepening that connection. With a booming voice, he speaks of softness and feminine energy. He has a deep foundational understanding of the world that is distinctly indigenous. Glenn is humble, and he is humorous and generous. He is a student and a teacher and that’s a rare quality.
The painting below is taken from the top of Glenn’s chest of drawers in his bedroom. Two watches sit on a heat cushion – one sitting in a wooden bowl carved to look as two hands clasped. Next to that sits an interlocking chain made of heavy metal – the symbol for masculine and feminine – a concept that has a high priority in the way Glenn sees the world.
To the right, what looks like just an ordinary chess piece (and what I’m quite sure is an ordinary chess piece) is used as a mallet to strike the silver goblet in the corner – an ancient Chinese standing bell called a Nao (and what we would now call a sound bowl).
In the corner is a box of vabhuti from Glenn’s time spent in India, and sitting next to the USB is a nautilus fossil on a string – symbolic of the Golden Ratio. Walking over the packet of Honey Lemon Fisherman’s Friend are emu tracks – Glenn’s totem. To the left, a traditional Mauri carving, worn commonly as a necklace, although few people seem to know its original design as a spearhead to be thrust through the enemies heart, causing severe wounding as its twisted and ripped out.