Megan Cope has a diverse practice that investigates issues relating to identity, the environment, and mapping practices. She is a descendant from the Quandamooka region (North Stradbroke Island) in South East QLD and through her art, explores decolonising methodologies which have become a primary concern in her work.

Her recent work focuses heavily on the toponymy (the study of place names) and geomorphology (the study of the nature and history of landforms) of heavily populated tourist destinations along the east coast of Australia; locations many Australians hold a personal affiliation to.

BIO

Works by Megan Cope have been presented in Australia and abroad, including in the ARC Biennial in Brisbane, the Koori Heritage Trust in Melbourne, and Wellington City Gallery in New Zealand. Her work was also recently exhibited in ‘Lie of the Land: New Australian Landscapes’ (2012) at the Embassy of Australia, Washington DC, USA, curated by Alex Taylor (Terra Foundation of American Art Predoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian American Art Museum).

In 2008, Cope was highly recommended for the Gold Coast Indigenous Art and Design Award. She has also been selected as a finalist for the Clayton Utz Travelling Scholarship (2009), Sunshine Coast Art prize (2009), and the Churchie National Emerging Art Prize (2011).

Recently, Cope was commissioned to work on a major public art feature for Charlish Park in Redcliffe alongside ceramist Stephanie Outridge Field. She has also had work commissioned for public collections including the Mater Hospital, Brisbane and more recently the Gold Coast University Hospital Art Collection. Cope’s work is also included in the NEWflames Anne Gamble Myer collection.

Additionally, Cope has managed and curated several art spaces and projects including ‘tinygold’, Desperate Spaces, and the artist handbook So You Want To Be An Artist, published by Artworkers Alliance. She was the Creative Director of the Brisbane Artist Run Initiatives (BARI) Festival in 2009-10 and is currently managing the ‘Salt Water Murris Quandamooka - Art Gallery’ on North Stradbroke Island.

Cope is a recent member of the Brisbane based Indigenous Art Collective ProppaNOW.

Exhibiting in 2012.

Works by Megan Cope