D.O.B: 1960
LANGUAGE GROUP: Alywarre
COMMUNITY: Utopia, NT

Janie Petyarre Morgan is an emerging Aboriginal artist living in Irrultja in Utopia. Her country is Ingkwelaye (Kurrajong Bore) and her language is Alyawarre. She participated in the Utopia Women’s Batik Group projects of the 1980s and has been involved in Awelye (Women’s Ceremonies) from an early age. An Alyawarre speaker, her main dreaming is Bush Orange (Atwakee). In 2006 Janie began painting on canvas under the guidance of her aunties and particularly her cousin Barbara Weir who encouraged Janie to develop her individual style.

Her sister Katie Morgan is also an artist and similarly participated in the batik projects. Their father is Wallaby Kngwarreye Morgan & their mother was Lena Pwerle. They are close to their aunt and stepmother, the artist Lizzie Pwerle and her family.

Janie’s Dreaming is the Bush Orange or Wild Orange. She paints intricate dots in concentric circle based compositions that represent the Bush

Orange plant, its flowers and fruits, from an aerial perspective. Her beautiful paintings demonstrate Janie’s spiritual connection with her culture and country. Her meticulous dot construction references traditional topographical mapping of the Bush Orange in her ancestral country. Janie also paints the Kangaroo Dreaming.

Bush Orange is also known in Alyawarre as Atwakee. Once abundant but now scarce due to over grazing, this species was a stable source of bush tucker for Aboriginals. The fragrant small fruit hangs on long stalks and is green when unripe turning yellow or reddish in maturity. The fruit has a tough outer skin allowing the fruit to remain unspoilt for lengthy periods of time.

The physical creation of this Dreaming is an important part of the bush tucker ceremonies conducted by the women of Utopia. Artworks such as Bush Orange Dreaming ensure the continuation of an ancient and rich cultural heritage while acknowledging the close bond still retained by the artist to her country.

EXHIBITIONS: 

2012 Finalist for Paint Category City of Hobart Art Prize 2012 Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery, Hobart, TAS.

2012 Group exhibition, Colour of Dreaming: Australian Indigenous Arts, ARA ART Gallery Seoul, Korea in conjunction with DACOU, Australian Embassy in Korea & Crossbay Gallery.

2012 Group exhibition, Night Sky, DACOU Melbourne, Melbourne.

2011  Group exhibition: Another Perspective: Emerging artists from Irrultja in Utopia, DACOU Melbourne, Melbourne VIC.

2010  Group exhibition Fresh from Utopia, DACOU, Melbourne, VIC.

2009  Utopia, Colours of the Desert, Gongpyeong Art Space in conjunction with DACOU, Australian Embassy in Korea & Crossbay Gallery, Seoul, Korea.

2009  Morgan Sisters, DACOU Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC.

2008 Utopia Discoveries, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC.

2008 Group exhibition EWB Elements, travelling to major cities in Australia, presented by DACOU in conjunction with Dreamtime Art and Engineers Without Borders.

2008  Group exhibition, Small Works, Alison Kelly Gallery, Melbourne.

2007-8 Permanent Exhibition, Dacou Gallery, Adelaide, SA.

2007 Standing on Ceremony, Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, SA.

1990 Utopia – A Picture Story, an exhibition of 88 silk batiks from the Holmes a Court Collection by Utopia artists touring Ireland and Scotland.

COLLECTIONS:

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney NSW

 

See below some of her beautiful pieces for sale: