Watergums of Musk Stick- the Never Never, 2024

My greatest motivation for my work is to capture the essence of place in the Australian landscape. I frequently visit the Never Never River for inspiration. I perceive an interconnecting language between land, water and sky. The ancient towering water gums flank the water’s edge and dance in fractured reflections. As the sun sets, hues of pink give the trees the last glimpses of warmth, and lilac and blue-purple haze elicit a patchwork of shapes in the shadows. The spirit of this place is enchanting. The process is one of building up blocks of colour in oil paint that tethers between geometrical forms and patterns in nature, to observations truer to the eye. Various engraving tools are used to carve into the surface with spontaneous action, creating movement and gestural marks. In doing so, I’m drawing into the paint, creating another layer – one that is more textured. The carving process pulls the paint away and reveals light, either from the white of the primed surface or the actual timber.

Coco Elder is an Australian artist with a degree in both Art Education and Fine Arts, from UNSWCofa, (majoring in Painting and Minoring in Ceramics). Her prior studies in Landscape Architecture helped fuel her interest in botany and her understanding of the delicate interconnections with microclimate and the fragility of nature.

Coco has been influenced by Cezanne’s vision of geometry in the landscape and the interlocking patterns within, that enable her “to make sense of what might appear to be wild & unruly”.

Coco’s process is one of carving back through the oil paint using gestural marks with an engraving tool. This reductive process of creating spontaneous textures, reveals the primed surface beneath the paint, or the raw of the actual timber board upon which she paints. The result is a dynamic expression of her perception of the spirit of place.

Her intention is to lead the audience on a journey to reflect on the grandeur & magic of our natural landscape. One that is to be revered and protected.

Coco has been a finalist in numerous awards including the Lethbridge Landscape Prize, Paddington Art Prize, the Environmental Art and Design Prize, and the Mosman Art Prize. She was a prize winner at the Sydney Royal Agricultural Easter Show and was recently commissioned for one of the new wings at Hornsby Hospital.

Alongside her Visual Arts high school teaching qualifications, Coco has also been a Lecturer at UNSW School of Art & Design.