Kathleen Petyarre

Kathleen Petyarre (1940–2018) was one of the great and famous Australian Aboriginal artists whose painting became extremely popular in different countries for its numerous details, profound interconnection with the culture and spirituality of the Australians, and, of course, for its beauty. Kathleen’s family was from the Anmatyerre people of Utopia, Northern Territory, and she had become truly legendary in the growth of modern Indigenous art based on creation stories and the close affiliation to the land. Her paintings are for their style of dot work, uniqueness of canvases, and masterful portrayal of the ageless connection of her people to the land.

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Early Life and Heritage

Kathleen Petyarre was born about 1940 in Atnangkere, a part of Utopia in the Northern Territory. This place is famous for its beautiful scenery and considerable presence of Aboriginal culture, of which the Anmatyerre are a part. Kathleen was born into a family of artists, and the first person who impacted her and guided her in her creation was her cousin, the great Emily Kame Kngwarreye.

Kathleen comes from a strictly Anmatyerre background, and thus, from a very young age, she understood the culture and lore of her people as well as their rituals. Growing up, she was taught the Dreamtime stories and those of her totem, the Mountain Devil Lizard (Arnkerrth). These stories, inherited from the elder generations, served a major purpose in spiritual and cultural aspects and were, for her, the bedrock of her artistry.

Kathleen’s upbringing equally involved education on the natural environment in a very close consignment. Her people’s survival relied on their understanding of the land, plants, animals and these aspects are expressed perfectly in her works.

Kathleen Petyarre 460mm x 480mm

Artistic Career and Style

Kathleen Petyarre came to painting relatively late, towards the start of the 1980s, when many Aboriginal women were switching from batik on fabrics to painting on canvas in acrylic. This shift was possible and also allowed Kathleen to define new creative ways and meanings for her artistry, but she kept using the conventional symbols and signs of heritage culture.

Her work is most famously associated with the ‘Arnkerrth Dreaming’; the story of the Mountain Devil Lizard, her totem. This narrative is depicted in the form of web-like lines in the shape of dots to represent the movements of the lizard across the land to significant places of worship. Describing the widespread movement of the lizard with spiritual identification with the land in Kathleen’s paintings provides different perceptions of rhythm, depth, and place identification.

Her work is noted for the fine dotting in subdued browns and the layers that are created are near to the depth of perspective. These patterns reflect the totemic topography of her homeland and the imagined geographies of Indigenous spirituality and the Dreamtime on which Indigenous culture is based.

Kathleen’s art also often features aerial views, which are systematic of the Aboriginal method of drawing over the terrain. In her paintings, she gave the audience a look into the Anmatyerre cosmology, a world in which a man’s connection to land and spirituality is inextricable.

Recognition and Achievements

Towards the last years of her life, the paintings of Kathleen Petyarre became hallmarked in galleries all across Australia, as well as internationally. They have appeared in the most prestigious galleries and museums: the National Gallery of Australia, as well as the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Other works by Kathleen, which have also received similar uplift and acceptance are also displayed in some of the large private collections indicating increased acceptance of Kathleen’s work in the global market for good quality artwork.

Perhaps one of her greatest accomplishments was when she was awarded the Wynne Prize for landscape subject in 1996 at Gallery of New South Wales making her among the few Indigenous painters to achieve this. The appreciation solidified her position in contemporary Indigenous art and brought into focus Aboriginal presence in the larger Australian art context.

Over the years, given that art depicted the different stories and traditions of Kathleen’s people, she made sure that they were valued and forwarded to the rest of the people in the globe. It reflects that her work broke with discrimination and allowed Aboriginal people to speak, dance, and be respected.

Kathleen Petyarre’s life and work are indicative of the dynamism of aboriginal art and culture’s survival. Through her detailed paintings, she depicted her forefathers’ experiences, appreciating the relationship between the Territory and the Aboriginal Anmatyerre culture. Her creativity which resides in the method of telling a story and the ability to unite the ancient and the modern has become part of Australian art.

Thinking about the legacy she left, one cannot help but recall the value of Indigenous peoples’ stories and the artists who keep them alive and known. This is not mere art: it is an artwork that calls for the viewer to learn about the indigenous culture’s values and beliefs of the Australian soil.

Celebrate Kathleen Petyarre’s Legacy with Mandel

Explore the captivating work of Kathleen Petyarre by visiting us at Mandel Aboriginal Art Gallery. Check out our online collection dedicated to Indigenous art. Take the time to honour Kathleen’s legacy and deepen your understanding of the rich cultural tapestry she so beautifully shared with the world.