Gloria Petyarre, 1994

Gloria Tamerre Petyarre (b. 1945), an Anmatyerre woman from the Atnangkere country, near Alice Springs, is one of Australia's most acclaimed Indigenous painters. She is probably the best known Utopia artist after her late aunt, Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Although she only began painting in acrylics on canvas in the late 1980s, since her first solo exhibitions in 1991 she has had a dedicated following of public and private collectors. This photograph shows her painting in one of the 'sheds' that are a fixture of the Aboriginal art business in the Northern Territory, providing widely variable amenities for artists who come into town from surrounding communities and outstations. John McDonald and R. Ian Lloyd watched her, seemingly 'completely unflappable', as she applied layer upon layer of tapering dots with patient repetitive strokes, making another of the many paintings - of feathery dots, various Dreamings, leaves, wildflowers - with which she has long helped to support her relatives in Utopia.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of Patrick Corrigan AM 2004
Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
© Gregory Weight/Copyright Agency, 2021