How Did Wemba Wemba Native Troy Brabham Die? – The documentary “The Art of Incarceration” on Netflix explores how art can actually change a person’s entire world, and we can only describe it as being beautifully poignant.
Troy Brabham, an aspiring artist, discovered that sometimes, despite everyone’s best efforts, things simply don’t work out in the long run. We now have the information you need to learn more about him, emphasizing his history, past, crimes, time spent in prison, and the devastating consequences of it all.
Must Read: Where is Indigenous Artist and Mentor ‘Uncle Jack Charles’ Now?
Who Was Wemba Wemba Native Troy Brabham?
Troy Brabham, a native of Wemba Wemba, acknowledged having “Aboriginality stemming from both sides” of his family, indicating that the cultural bonds he had made were undoubtedly everlasting. But over time, his violent temper, alcoholism, and drug usage (which included heroin and methamphetamine) became so severe that he ended up spending nine years in prison.
When we first encountered him, he was really serving a six-month term for drug-related offenses. The court then gave him an additional month’s sentence concurrently for a prior auto theft from a store, failing to appear for bail, and a few other lesser offences.
In the production, Troy admitted, “I was physically violent.” “When I was younger, I was really off-tap, which, combined with my alcoholism at the time, made me an unreliable buddy… Since I had taken boxing lessons when I was young, I took that mentality into my behavior, which was rather unjust and abusive. I now see that as a waste of my time, my energy, and my considerable amount of self-hatred. That served as its conduit. Even yet, he maintained some optimism since he was making progress in the areas of taking accountability for his actions and working hard.”
This was largely due to Troy’s involvement in The Torch support program, which gave him a platform to exhibit both his actual self and his artistic talent. After receiving his training at ABC Australia in 2003, he went on to work as a photographer for most of the country’s stations, as well as Reuters in Germany, the BBC in London, and even Canwest in Canada.
That is, according to the movie, before he began to “come to grief” and make enough mistakes to wind up at the Fulham Correctional Centre on Hopkins Road in Victoria. But on December 20, 2016, he was unharmed.
What Happened to Troy Brabham and How Did He Die?
Upon his release from prison, Troy reportedly continued to paint and reunited with his partner Tanya McRedmond. Still, he regrettably also relapsed into drug use, according to the documentary (using methamphetamine in particular). Robby Wirramanda, a former prisoner who is now an artist, was one of his close blood relatives and was hoping to collaborate with him on a project, but it never materialised.
The mid-40-year-old man was discovered dead in his Ballarat house in the summer of 2017 (around June), and an autopsy determined that he had overdosed on drugs. The outcome was very different from what anyone anticipated, despite Troy’s intention to “lay to rest the still waters that made me the violent, unaccepting, and dangerous person to be around when I was younger.”
Although it hasn’t been made clear whether his death was intentional, the manner in which he described “rising from the ashes” and seizing opportunities in the documentary implies the former. Truthfully, the fact that he still looked to have some fight in him makes the tragedy of his sudden death even worse.
