There is more to Laura
Dean Reilly
- Sitter: Laura Geitz
- Medium: Acrylic on Cotton
- Dimensions: 120 x 150 cm
- Representation: Red Hill Gallery
About the artist
Dean Reilly is a Sunshine Coast based artist, who exhibits in Brisbane at the Red Hill Gallery, and also in Sydney and Melbourne. In 2010 he was a finalist in the Archibald Prize and he has also been a finalist in the Doug Moran Prize. His work has been shown in the AGNSW, New South Wales State Library, the German Embassy and is held in many private collections around the world. His practice is underpinned by his academic studies and continues to evolve through a deeper learning concerned with identity and sense of place. Reilly believes identity is interwoven through our shared histories, experiences and dreams.
About the sitter
Firebirds legend, Laura Geitz has been pivotal to the development of professional netball in Queensland and nationally. Born in country Allora, she has recently been honoured with a bronze statue of her unveiled at the new Queensland State Netball Centre. Geitz was captain and the driving force behind the Firebirds for three premiership titles. Her international career included leading the Australian Diamonds to a Commonwealth Games gold medal and winning world championships in 2011 and 2015. She also won two Commonwealth Games Silver medals, played 71 games for Australia and 169 games for the Firebirds. Recognised as one of the country’s greatest players and a female role model, Geitz was particularly known for her quick thinking and game changing intercepts. She retired from netball in 2018, and it is her less public self that this portrait by Dean Reilly invites you to examine, in it’s whimsical and suggestive way.
