About me:
I am an Indigenous artist, living in the Hawkesbury region, where I was born to a white mother and Aboriginal father. My mob is Goreng Goreng, whose traditional lands are located in coastal Queensland. As a 10 month old baby, my mum gave me pens and textas and I would scribble for hours a day. I have loved art my entire life, I won medals when I was in primary school for excelling in art.
When I was in high school, I received two scholarships from the GO Foundation, an Indigenous scholarship award, founded by Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin. I cannot thank this program enough as they helped me launch my art career by not only giving me money to buy paints and canvases, but they also opened me up to new opportunities and community. Mark, Charlene, Shirley and the rest of the team at GO have been nothing but supportive on my journey to getting where I am today.
Through the money I received from these scholarships, I was able to buy more art supplies, and I started posting my art on facebook. In 2020, my mum’s friend, Brett Groves, had recently opened Bilingarra, a 100% Indigenous owned art shop/gallery in Leura NSW. He had seen some of my artworks on facebook and asked me if I wanted to start selling and exhibiting my artworks there. I very excitedly agreed, and I am eternally grateful to Brett for further helping introduce me to the Aboriginal art world.
During this time I was attending the Solid Ground program at my high school, where we would learn about Aboriginal culture, dance, music, language, food and art once a week. Vivid Sydney contacted my Solid Ground Coordinator, Debbie, who had chosen me to be the lead featured artist at Crown Casino on the Barangaroo Wulugul Walk in 2022. I had 25 of my artworks exhibited, as light projections onto the ground, which was an amazing opportunity. I was featured on the Today Show and Channel 7 News, where I was interviewed about myself as a young Indigenous artist and also in the Daily Telegraph and the Sydney Morning Herald, where I had a photoshoot with AFL legend, Buddy Franklin and Superstar Model, Sam Harris.
I attended university at the National Art School where I was awarded a $45,000 scholarship to pursue my studies. In 2023 I hosted an exhibition with several of my peers called “Leave it Where You Found it” in the library where over 200 people attended, the largest turn out that exhibition space had received. I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art in 2024 at age 20.
I took about a year off from doing art during 2025 as I needed a break from having done so much art at university. During 2026, I decided it was time to come back from my hiatus and continue doing a lot of art again, as I feel like this is what I was born to do.
I currently reside in the Hawkesbury region of NSW where I continue to create, paint and follow my passion everyday. I am inspired by the world around me and I never stop learning new things about my culture. I hope my artworks spark feelings of joy and connection, inspiring appreciation for the beauty, colours and stories found within the natural world.
I’ve been wanting to make a website for ages. I have put a lot of work into this website and all the pieces I sell here. I love doing art and painting every day and I am so excited to make more artworks to sell on this website so stay tuned!
Coda Ridley Art Shop
