In early September, accomplished musician and artist Michael Sollis unveiled Reticulum to the public, a sound sculpture that stands proud and purposeful as a point of advocacy for vulnerable, immunocompromised Australians; a community that feels the tremors in the unsteady ground of a post-COVID world like no other.

Michael Sollis is the current Artistic Director of Education for Musica Viva and and also directs theatrical sextet The Griffyn Ensemble. Widely recognised for his contribution as an arts educator within schools and communities, his work has been performed by groups such as The Australian Voices and the Australian String Quartet, and he has been commissioned by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and the Canberra International Music Festival. In 2021, he was announced as the annual Fellow of the Capital Arts Patrons’ Organisation.

Michael Sollis

Michael Sollis. Photo supplied.

One year earlier, he was diagnosed with advanced bowel cancer. His experiences shaped the development of Reticulum, a piece described by artist, poet and cancer-survivor Jenni Kemarre Martiniello as “shattering the silence” around cancer.

Reticulum is...