Painter, photographer, printmaker, sculptor and architect Ro Murray was born in Sydney in 1952, first child of Harly and Elizabeth Hunter. Murray grew up in West Pennant Hills, attending the local primary school, and later Tara Anglican School for Girls, where she was a prefect. From the outset, Murray was always a keen art student. While at school she won prizes at the local shows for her drawings, and in her final year of school in 1970 had an oil on canvas portrait of her mother selected for an exhibition at the Rural Bank in Martin Place, Sydney. Enrolling in Architecture at University of New South Wales in 1971, Murray was able to extend her visual skills under the tutelage of artist Lorna Nimmo. In 1976 she graduated with Honours in Architecture, having completed a dissertation on pioneering female architect Florence Taylor (1879-1969), under the guidance of Professor Max Freeland. In her final year Murray married fellow classmate Wal Murray.
For the next twenty-five years Murray worked as an architect, first at Noel Bell-Ridley Smith, before establishing her own private practice in the early 1980s, specialising in alterations and additions. During this time her art was often limited to ink sketches in art diaries supplemented by the incorporation of recycled materials and sculptural objects in her architectural and landscape designs. These composite art and design projects enabled her to more fully express her commitment to green art and design, and won her significant press coverage.
It wasn’t until the early 1990s that Murray’s career as an artist really began to take shape. While attending private workshops in portrait sketching, she began experimenting with colour and applied textures, such as lace. Her first exhibition in 1996 made use of these techniques in a series of female portraits displayed in a group exhibition at the Balmain Watch House, Sydney.
Thereafter, Murray held annual private exhibitions of her portraits, figure studies and other subject matter, often converting spaces in her home into a temporary gallery. In 2005 she held a joint exhibition with her stepdaughter, Zoe Sernack, at the Canvas Gallery, Bondi.
In 2000 Murray enrolled in summer and winter five-day intensive courses at the National Art School (NAS), later enrolling in a full-time Bachelor of Fine Arts studies, specialising in sculpture. At the NAS Murray was challenged to experiment and expand on her approach to painting by teachers such as George Gittoes and Suzanne Archer. During this period of study Murray suspended her professional architectural practice and is resolved to work full-time as an artist.
- Writers:
- Atkinson, Eloise
De Lorenzo, Catherine
- Date written:
- 2008
- Last updated:
- 2011
