George Cooley
Artwork title: Breakaways
Medium: Acrylic on linen
Size: 124 cm x 116 cm
$16,000
About the Artwork
The area I’ve painted is part of the Stuart Ranges, just north of Coober Pedy. This is a place I have visited many times since my early teens. It’s a place where I go camping, hunting and gathering bush tucker, and where opals are found.
Cooley works from memory documenting the landscape and its spectacular mesas, ridges and sloping escarpments. He uses an aerial viewpoint to increase to buildup rich layers of paint with a palette knife to celebrate the extraordinary beauty of desert colour. The work also draws from his many years of prospecting for opals on the land.
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About the Artist
George Cooley is a senior man and community leader from Coober Pedy. He holds leadership positions across the Umoona and Coober Pedy communities and is a talented artist and opal miner. George paints the landscape surrounding his Country, particularly the Breakaways, an important site 25km north of Coober Pedy, known for its spectacular hills, mesas and plains.
George says: "My story is about the painted desert landscapes, landscaping of country and the environment of Coober Pedy. I've been living in Coober Pedy since 1958. I try to capture the beauty of the ochre colours around the country I love. Granite rocks, hills, mulga scrubs. The way the colours change in different seasons, the red dirt as you go further north. As an opal miner, I also capture the brilliant colours of the opals and the way in blends in with the ochre shades. Using these colours reminds me of living on Country and the many campsites that we used to visit when the old people were still around."
Photo: Andy Francis