Anna Petyarre
Utopia – b.c. 1965
Anna Petyarre commenced painting in the early 1980s when the medium of canvas and acrylic paints was introduced to the Utopia region. Prior to painting she produced silk batik’s with the Utopia batik group. Her main Dreamings, which she depicts in her paintings are Bush Yam,Wild Potato and Sandhills which are associated with the dreamings from Alhalkere country. These are the Dreamings of her grandfather and father’s country from the Boundary Bore region. The Bush Yam has been a staple food and water source for the Anmatyerre people for countless years, and the seeds that form the scatter from the plant are ground up to make flour for damper.
Anna takes the utmost care and pride in her work and endeavors to bring the sensitivity of her culture to canvas. She actively takes part in ceremonies and paints the bodies of the dancers prior to the commencement of each ceremony.
Anna is a versatile and creative artist who has changed her painting style radically serveral times over the last decade. Her work is consistently beautiful and becoming more collectible as she develops her craft and cements her reputation as one of Utopia’s rising stars.
Anna’s work is visually intriguing and one of the best of the younger generation painting today. She achieves great movement and depth in her work and is eager to explore the canvas with colour and tone.
Awards:
1998 Selected entrant for the 15th NATSIAA Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts AWARD exhibition.
Collections:
National Gallery of Australia Canberra; Artbank Sydney; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Art Gallery of South Australia Adelaide; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne; Art Gallery of Western Australia; Victorian Art Centre Melbourne; Anthropology Art Museum Perth; Holmes a Court Collection, Perth; private and corporate collections in USA, Germany, Denmark, Poland and Italy.
Selected Exhibitions:
1996 “Utopia Dreaming”, Soho Gallery, Sydney
1997 Dacou Gallery, Adelaide
1997 Sutton Gallery, Melbourne
1998 Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney
1998 Selected entrant for the 15th NATSIAA
1999 Tandanya, Adelaide
1999 BMG Art, Adelaide
2000 Tandanya, Adelaide
2000 Dacou (in association with AMP), Mary Place Gallery, Sydney
2001 “Women’s Business”, Australian Exhibition Centre, Chigaco, USA
2001 Japingka Gallery, Perth
2001 Raintree Aboriginal Art Gallery, Darwin
2002 Galerie Le Temps du Reve, France
2002 Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
2002 Glen Eira City Gallery, Melbourne.