Artist

Gloria Petyarre was born circa 1945 in the region of Utopia, located 270kms northeast from Alice Springs. Her language is Anmatyerre and her country is Aknangkere. Gloria is one of seven sisters who are also artists, such as the well-known Kathleen Petyarre, Nancy Petyarre, Violet Petyarre and Ada Bird Petyarre.

Gloria first gained recognition as an artist working in the medium of Batik, exhibiting with other Utopia women in shows around Australia and abroad from 1977 to 1987. In 1988 Gloria took up the medium of canvas and painted her first work for CAAMA (The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association) in the exhibition titled –Utopia Women’s Painting; The First Works of Canvas; a Summer Project 1988 – 1989.

In 1990 –1991, Gloria travelled to Ireland, London and India as a representative of the Utopia women accompanying the exhibition Utopia – A Picture Story. The exhibition was mounted in Dublin at the Royal Hibernian Academy; Tandanya, Adelaide; and The Meat Market Gallery, Melbourne.

Learn more about Gloria Petyarre here.

Artwork Information

This piece was painted in 2011 and is 60cm x 79cm in size. The piece is signed by the artist.

Dreaming

By far her most popular style has been ‘Bush Medicine Dreaming’. In these works, Gloria depicts the leaves of a particular type of shrub that has medicinal qualities and which Gloria, as a healer, is well practiced in.

Gloria uses a range of different brush strokes ranging from the large to the very fine using colours, which represent the growth of the leaves at certain times of the year. The expert use of colour and movement displayed in these pieces confirm Gloria’s status as a sophisticated contemporary artist.

Aboriginal artists such as Gloria Petyarre who paint ‘Bush Medicine Dreaming’ pay homage to the spirit of the medicine plant in the hope that it will successfully regenerate, thus enabling people to continue to use its healing powers. Learn more here.

Medium

All the artwork provided is done on with highest quality linen canvas, acrylic paints, oils and brushes ensuring the longevity of each piece of work.