An Anmatyerre speaker, born c.1930, Kathleen Petyarre’s traditional country is Atnangkere, an important soakage on the western boundary of Utopia station which, on account of the abundance of food it provided, was keenly sought by neighbouring Eastern Arrente groups. Her father had three wives, and several daughters, who in recent times have managed to hold onto the area as a group, establishing camp at Atneltyeye Boundary Bore. Kathleen’s Dreamings include Women Hunting Emu with Dingo, and Mountain Devil Lizard, and like most of the Utopia artists, she took up painting in 1988-9 as part of CAAMA’s Summer Project after previously working in batik. A talented batik artist, Kathleen is enjoying exploring the technical possibilities of acrylic on canvas. A 6 × 3 m silk batik in the collection of Museums & Art Galleries of NT shows reciprocally the influence of working with paint on both the scale and the technique of her batiks.

Writers:

Johnson, Vivien Note: primary biographer

Date written:

1994

Last updated:

2011