Meet Rheanna Lotter, the Penrith designer behind Australia’s Paralympic uniform

She has designed AFL balls for charity and glasses, now this proud Yuin woman has had a hand in the striking Paralympics uniform inspired by indigenous art and culture.

If you’ve been keeping up with the Paralympics, you’ve probably seen this design before. Penrith’s Rheanna Lotter is the proud designer of the indigenous-based uniform now on the world stage as athletes from around the world compete at the Paralympics in Tokyo.

“I’ve moved around a lot but I’m now in Glenmore Park. I just bought a house with my fiance, so this is where we’re going to be for a while,” the proud Yuin woman said.

The Paralympic Australia uniform incorporates artwork from Rheanna Lotter. Picture: Paralympics Australia

The young Indigenous artist is ecstatic to see her work featured in the international event.

“I‘m very happy with how they’ve used the artwork and everyone knows the story of it. So it feels really special,” she said.

“I love sport, I love my culture and art so being able to connect the two every day is like what I aspired to do and in my life. So I’m kind of living the dream, which is really cool.”

The 26-year-old founder of Ngandabaa Aboriginal Art and Programs drew inspiration for her famous design, entitled ‘The Journey’, which has themes of overcoming adversity.

Paralympics Australia has used the design in its 2021 uniform. Picture: Paralympics Australia

“The Journey features across a majority of the Paralympics uniforms and even on their kayaks, paddles and helmets. It calls upon the athlete’s individual journeys and features eight circles that represent all of Australia’s states and territories,” Ms Lotter said.

“Then there are journey connections to each state, represented as lines, which details their journey to the Paralympics. The boomerangs are their adversities and challenges that they have to overcome to obviously become professional athletes.”

Paralympics Australia chief executive officer, Lynne Anderson, said she was confident all Australians would feel proud of the way their representatives at the Tokyo Paralympics will be presented.

“Whether it be walking into the stadium on opening night, throughout the days of competition and then the final night, these uniforms will help us take our place among the world’s top Paralympic organisations and athletes,” Ms Anderson said.

Ms Lotter’s background also plays a big part in her art. A proud Yuin nation woman, she calls upon her ancestry for inspiration.

“I’m from Yuin Nation which is where my ancestors are from. I grew up in the Southern Highlands, close to Mittagong and moved to Sydney when I was 18,” she said.

Rheanna Lotter (right) with her grandfather whose totem she named her business after.

“I then started my business because I left home and lost all my cultural identity... So I used art as a way to connect back to my identity.”

Her business, Ngandabaa Art an Programs, introduces children across the state to Indigenous art and culture. The beginnings of the company were grown close to home for Ms Lotter, with huge connections to her family.

“It‘s called Ngandabaa, pronounced Yun-Da-Baa, which means red belly black snake and it’s my grandfather’s totem,” she said.

“He was alive when I asked if I could name the business after him and that’s been going since 2014. It’s grown organically through word of mouth and that’s how I’ve managed to turn this into a full time job.”

Rheanna Lotter also designed an indigenous ball for the AFL. Picture: Jason McCawley/Getty Images

Ms Lotter has also designed for the AFL, designing a ball for the annual Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous round.

She also worked with Specsavers on a set of frames which were auctioned off for $150,000

which was donated to the Fred Hollows Foundation.

“I hope that I’m going to be doing more collaborations with companies that make a difference and do a lot of charity work,” she said.