Myra Cook

Myra Cook is a Pitjantjatjara woman, who was born in 1932 and grew up in the Docker River region and shares with Irrunytju artists, most of whom are of the Pitjantjatjara language group, a pride in their ancestral history and land which ex expands across from the edge of the Western Australian desert to the north-west corner of South Australia and to the South West corner of the Northern Territory. Her semi-nomadic lifestyle, like that of the people of Irrunytju, means she often travels and enjoys close relationships with other groups, such as the Ngaanyatjarra and Spinifex communities. Highly social gatherings, they work, talk, dance, sing and discuss sacred women’s business which is passed on from senior women to others. The women’s stories include tales of childbirth, midwifery, ceremony, child-rearing and even death.

Myra’s work is distinguished by a stunning orchestration of crystalline shaped blues, greens, mauves, pinks and yellows, evoking the vibrant expression of rock opal, familiar to the country of her growing up.