Michelle Cooper Paintings
Michelle Cooper is an accomplished and focused artist who incorporates the Tjukurrpa stories of her Pitjantjatjara homelands into her finely worked paintings.
Michelle Cooper at Work
Date of Birth
1971
Place of Birth
Kalka, Pitjantjatjara Yankuntjatjara Lands , South Australia
Languages
Pitjantjatjara, Yankuntjatara, Warlpiri
Family
Michelle Cooper is a Pitjantjatjara woman, born in Kalka community, Pitjantjatjara Yankuntjatjara lands in South Australia. She moved to Alice Springs with her family after her mother died when Michelle was quite young. Michelle began painting under the guidance of her paternal grandmother, Kuntjil Cooper (1920-2010). Michelle learned the significant Women’s Dreaming stories from Pitjantjatjara culture including Two Sisters (Minyma Kutjara Tjukurpa) and Seven Sister Dreamings.
Career
While Michelle’s mother was from Yuendumu and spoke Warlpiri, Michelle has her strongest cultural ties to Pitjantjatjara lands. The major subjects of her paintings lie in the Women’s Dreamings and associated inma or ceremonies that underpin traditional knowledge from her Grandmother’s country. Michelle says that she ‘listened to her father’s story’ and absorbed Tjukurpa or traditional knowledge into her life. Michelle’s own daughter lives in Pipalyatjara nearby to Kalka on the APY Lands. Michelle Cooper is a committed and focused artist who incorporates the Tjukurpa stories of her homelands into her finely worked paintings.