Your Cart is Empty
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.
PAST EXHIBITION
leaves ii
15 Dec - 12 Feb 2024
Officially introducing you to Esther Haywood.
Our summer exhibition showcases new works representing Leaves.
It is a sequel to our 2016 exhibition which featured Leaves paintings by Esther's grandmother; the late, great Australian artist Gloria Petyarre.
Exhibition Artwork
No longer available.
ABOUT
Esther Haywood is a mother of three, nanna of two, wife, sister, artist, friend-to-many and the grand daughter of one of Australia's most beloved artists; the late Gloria Petyarre.
When she was a young girl, her mother died in a car accident and so she and her younger brother split their time growing up between Ali Curung with their father and Utopia with their grandmother.
Esther started painting when she was 16 years old under the guidance of her grandmother's family in Utopia. This was when painting was a booming industry for desert artists and Utopia artists led the scene.
Her paintings would represent her Awelye (women's ceremony) or the Arnkerrthe Dreaming from her grandmother's country. It wasn't until after her grandmother's passing in 2021 and at her behest, that she began painting leaves.
LEAVES
Esther's grandmother is the original creator of the leaves style that swept the desert art industry, and it won her grandmother the Wynne Prize in 1999 for best Australian landscape.
Originally, the leaves were inspired by those that had fallen to the ground and swept across the landscape in swift passing zephyrs. But, over time, they evolved to encompass important medicinal leaves that can be collected for making bush medicines.
One bush medicine that Esther was taught to make was an ointment, derived from crushed leaves and fat from kangaroos and echidnas, and applied topically to faces and hair so that its powerful aroma would linger and aid in the relief of colds.
