Adam lo
Air Force, Painter - Musician
Adam was born in Hong Kong, before the handover of that country from Britain to China. In the late 1980s, when he was nine years old, his parents emigrated to Sunnybank in Queensland with Adam, his brother and two sisters. From his earliest years, Adam lived in a world of creativity with his father working as a chef.
At high school, Adam’s favourite subjects were Biology and Film and Television. He loved participating in school musicals and concerts, both as a singer and a performer. His creativity shone brightly.
“When I was a kid, I was touched by the Anzac spirit. I was always interested in joining up. Even at uni, I went to anything at all that the military put on. But I thought I should finish my studies first. I kept that dream alive and, when I graduated and started working as an Occupational Therapist, I joined the air force reserves. This allowed me to have both of the things I loved in my life.”
His was a Direct Entry enlistment in the reserves, which saw him begin his military training as an Officer. Adam remained a reservist and, later, volunteered as an Officer of Cadets with the Australian Air Force Cadets.
Working as an Occupational Therapist, Adam developed an interest in mental health, the brain and the human mind. He expanded this interest to specialising in the mental health of children and young adults. Another of Adam’s many areas of interest has been military mental health, where he advocated for veterans in their transition from military to civilian life. He promotes help-seeking behaviours through his involvement with Occupational Therapy, Australia.
As Adam developed professionally, he began focussing on using creative arts to promote mental health. In 2015, already with two young children of his own, he created a youth event called The Positive Mindset Creative Arts Festival. This showcases dance, drama, music, visual arts and media arts. The festival culminates in Mental Health Week and the feedback from the young people involved backed up his belief that purposeful, artistic activities made them feel worthwhile. His motto for the festival is “Create, Connect and Chat” and, because of the Covid-19 Pandemic in 2020, he added the words “Keep Calm and (get) Cracking”. As well as promoting mental wellbeing, Adam aims to reduce the stigma of mental illness and addiction issues in young people through the arts.
More than twenty years of actively working as a community volunteer in areas such as youth advocacy and mentoring, fundraising, supporting his local church, working with the veteran community and a long engagement in community radio broadcasting, has resulted in Adam’s efforts being recognised. In 2021, Adam was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, and was also a recipient of the Multicultural Queensland Award in 2006. He also earned the Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Australia Day Achievement Award in 2011, a Highly Commended Award in the Queensland Health Awards for Excellence in 2015 and was a finalist in the Pride of Australia Medal Award in 2015, and the Mental Health Week Achievement Awards in 2017 and 2018.
“Lately, I’ve been getting more into my own interest in visual arts. I’ve also always loved music - guitar and singing. It connects you to others and I’m learning saxophone with my boy. Also, although I’ve never had any formal training, I’ve always liked to draw. I really enjoy doing portraits, rather than landscapes. I experiment and sometimes add in a bit of mixed media. I have been painting portraits of work colleagues as a gift for important events in their life. I like to include an object, or symbol, that has some importance to them.
“One of my paintings shows the transitioning from military life to civilian life for a female, and the fact that Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be a real part of that transition. I get my ideas from knowing the person.”
Adam’s life became even busier when his air force reservist role led him to being appointed Aide de Camp to His Excellency, the Honourable Paul de Jersey, Governor of Queensland in 2019. He continued in this role as Her Excellency, the Honourable Jeanette Young, became Governor in 2021, who was previously the Chief Health Officer in Queensland and led that State through the Covid-19 pandemic. Adam was very involved with the pomp and ceremony that accompanied this changeover of Governors.
Young Adam’s pride in his country, and love of both the performing and visual arts, have kept him focussed throughout his adult life.
“Art gives me an escape from all of the other things in my life.”
His greatest wish is to continue to open these avenues to the young people with whom he interacts.
@adamloart
www.adamlo.com
