Gabrielle Courtenay is an artist who has always been interested in pictorial space, aesthetic ornament and the symbolism of beauty. Her paintings while simple in their monochrome colour and sparse placement in space are redolent with symbolic intent. Abstraction is the process of reducing subject matter into simple forms to trigger memories, emotions and stories that are invisible. Her work is a reflection of her life and as such is an intuitive adventure where each body of work flows from the last while retaining an essence of the past.

In recent years art residencies, travel in Australia’s outback and extended periods of time working alone on a property out of Taralga has directly influenced her work. The last residency in October 2006 through COFA as an Iliri Artist Scholar Resident at Fowlers Gap out of Broken Hill was most important. She spent a month in isolation on the property at Ochre House imaging the dry arid landscape through drawing and painting. The heat and fierce desert winds had a dramatic influence on re-evaluating the discourse of her practice. She moved her focus in painting from minimal works that had a spiritual focus to paintings and drawings to address contemporary issues such as climate change, our Colonial history and place in this ancient landscape. These enigmatic works are full of symbolic intent and have an intrinsic poetic beauty.

Courtenay has moved across different areas of commercial and public art. She has worked for many years as an Art Consultant and muralist completing numerous mural commissions for hotels, restaurants, public buildings and private residencies in Australia and overseas. Her training in architecture, these experiences and initial architectural training has lead in recent years to work as a colour and materials consultant for Weir and Phillips Architects and mural commissions.