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About the Artists
Our vibrant and dynamic artists are from the Utopia region; a large remote area of Central Australia which, until recently, had no government funded art centre. As a result of their pioneering efforts, they have one of the strongest and richest art histories.
Desert Dots III Exhibition
20 April - 1 July 2018
Desert Dots III celebrates our annual exhibition of dot paintings.
This year the exhibition features dot paintings by five female artists of Utopia, with a collection of monochromatic works paired with works dominated by vibrant purple and orange hues.
FEATURED ARTISTS: Delvine Petyarre, Josie Petrick Kemarre, Naomi Pwerle, Michelle Lion Kngwarreye and Anna Price Petyarre.
My Country by Anna Price Petyarre | 210cm x 150cm | $8,800
Anna Price is one of Utopia’s high profile artists who has been exhibited extensively around the globe for close to 30 years. Since the early 00’s, her most sought after style has been fine dot depictions of country, often with intricate strings of dots depicting sand hills on a red ochre or black canvas.
Other markings and symbolism find their way into these dot paintings making each one significantly unique, despite each depicting an aerial view of Anna’s country, Alhalkere.
This piece is especially worth showcasing. At an immense 210cm x 150cm the artwork reveals sand hills, rocky outcrops, tracks, songlines, ceremonial sites, caves, soakages and hills.
Country by Delvine Petyarre | 180cm x 90cm | $3,850
Delvine Petyarre started painting for galleries when she was 19, known then as Trisha. Her earlier works resembled that of older sister Joy Petyarre representing the Yam Dreaming. Now at 35 years old, and going by the alias Delvine, her dot paintings are influenced by her sister Anna Price's depiction of country (above).
Intricate white dots systematically map out Delvine's country just north of Australia's Eastern Desert. Think dry river beds, yam root systems beneath the ground and travelling tracks – both by car and foot - of her people. Dotted circles represent significant sites on Alhalkere country such as Boundary Bore, the main community there, and sacred sites.
The red ochre background in this piece lends an authentic look of the red sand country.
Country by Delvine Petyarre | 180cm x 60cm | $2,650
Delvine, like others, will dab a bamboo satay stick into a pot of paint and use this to create several to a dozen dots before going back for more paint and beginning the process again. This process creates areas of thicker consistency where dots appear larger, and other areas where the dots appear smaller and darker, the whole effect creating a twinkling, dotted, three dimensional looking work of art.
Ilyarnaty by Michelle Lion Kngwarreye | 45cm x 45cm | $350
Michelle was one of the younger generation of painters who participated in Utopia Art movement’s inception in the 1980’s. Now in her 50’s, Michelle continues to live a traditional life in Utopia’s northern most reaches.
Over the decades, Michelle’s style of painting has not evolved so much as it has shifted from one neat and refined design to another, each piece meticulously crafted whether through fine lines or fine dots.
This piece is one of her more familiar styles that she replicates from time to time. In it she explores the shades of the Ilyarnayt, a type of wattle called Acacia Validinervia. It grows abundantly in northern Utopia near Michelle's home. Except for the seed pods depicted by green ellipticals, the entire painting is created by individual dots using small ink bottles.
Bush Plum Dreaming by Josie Petrick Kemarre | 120cm x 60cm | $1,950
Josie Petrick Kemarre is considered a collectable artist and predominately explores ripening stages of the bush plum in her artworks.
Clusters of warm coloured dots are interspersed with deep blue dots, each created with a bamboo satay stick.
There are many little black plum-like berries in the Central Australian bush. This particular berry is actually a mistletoe (angkwerrpme in Josie's language), and one of just a few varieties that have edible berries; making it an important food source.
Bush Plum Dreaming by Josie Petrick Kemarre | 90cm x 60cm | $1,495
Josie also explores the ripening stages with significant amounts of purple and orange in a style quite uniquely hers.
After significant rainfall, the desert transforms from an analogous landscape to a panorama of abundant colour and vegetation.
The sweet edible angkwerrpme berries change from green to shades of yellow, red and orange in its stages of maturity, before finally a blueish purple (close to black) when it falls from the stem and is collected in bulk.
The square like shape is symbolic of the ripening journey, travelling path and song lines of the angkwerrpme being celebrated after rain.
Pencil Yam Seed by Naomi Pwerle | 30cm x 30cm | $189
At almost 40 years of age, Naomi Pwerle is Anna Price's eldest daughter. From an early age, she watched her mother and other women of her community paint their Dreaming stories. During this time, dot work featured heavily in Utopia art.
Here, Naomi is recreating one of her mother’s most in-demand styles of the late 90’s; derived from a vision of the pencil yam root system beneath the ground, and its seed.
The seed of the pencil yam is one of its most important attributes which Naomi illustrates with dot work. This seed is called Kame, most famously recognised as the bush name of Emily Kame Kngwarreye.
