A series of powerful, evocative paintings by the territory's criminals from behind prison walls stand testament to that paradox.

ACT prisoners have produced 19 paintings this year that give a glimpse into their broken lives, their sense of despair, and their longing for freedom, family and friends.

Those works have been showcased across the country as part of the Art From Inside program run by the Prison Fellowship of Australia for just over a decade.

''The same hands that can be so creative, can be so destructive,'' Prison Fellowship Australia executive director Richard Feeney said. ''I just shake my head sometimes … there is something in them, it's not all bad, it's not all destructive.''

The aim of the program is not only to act as therapy for the inmates, but to also help reduce stigma upon release by building understanding between prisoners and the broader community.

The Alexander Maconochie Centre's offender services and corrections programs senior manager, Mark Bartlett, said the participation rate in the initiative was strong, and the quality of the finished works was amazing.

''I tend to notice, a lot of the works are around regeneration, renewal … there's opportunity, the sunrise, there's the light on the horizon, there's the opportunity to turn your life around,'' Mr Bartlett said.

''They often come from a bit of a dark place to start.''

Last year, 75 pieces were produced across Australia's jails, joining art from 124 countries across the world all participating in Art From Inside. One piece, produced by an inmate at a NSW institution, shows a prisoner holding onto a bar gazing at a long shadow, cast by a figure agonisingly close, yet hidden from view. The shadow, Mr Feeney said, represents the inmate's family, waiting for his release. The works were on show last week at a national conference discussing how to best reintegrate prisoners into the community. The conference, The Reintegration Puzzle, attracted experts on criminal rehabilitation and restorative justice to Canberra.