Birds Eye View, GrainCorp Silos, Goroke VIC. by Geoffrey Carran in Torquay

In September 2020 Geoffrey embarked on his largest project to date, painting three massive grain silos in the small town of Goroke in Victorias, West Wimmera. Painting these silos connected Goroke to the extended Australian Silo Art Trail, hailed as the biggest outdoor gallery in the world. It took Geoffrey around 6 weeks to paint the mural featuring some of Australia’s most iconic bird species and classic West Wimmera landscape. The subject matter was chosen through extensive community consultation and Geoffrey’s interpretation of these themes. He was already very familiar with the area having spent long periods of time in the West Wimmera as his wife Rowena is from the district. The magpie is significant for the town as Goroke is a literal translation meaning magpie in the Wotjobaluk language. The other elements are all consistent with the land in this area, the multitude of wetlands and open cropping paddocks creating perfect habitat for Kookaburras and Galahs. Geoffrey thrived on working at this scale, depicting a site specific piece, down to his choice of barbed wire, fence posts (Bull Oak droppers) even the species of lichen growing on them. It was also really important to Geoffrey to create that sense of vast, tree lined horizons and big skies, the constant shift of season and perspective as you drive through the West Wimmera landscape.