Born: 1945, Australia
Died: 8 June 2021
Country most active: Australia
Also known as: Pitjara
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women founder Allison Tyra’s book The View from the Hill: Women Who Made Their Mark After 40.
Known for her beautiful “medicine leaf” motif, Petyarre first began gaining attention in the late 1970s for her batik works. Like her aunt, (Emily Kame) Kngwarreye, she was part of the Utopia Women’s Batik Group, formed in 1978 following a series of workshops on the technique of dyeing fabrics while using wax to create patterns. In the late 1980s, she began painting on canvas, and Petyarre’s career took off when she won the vaunted Wynne Prize from the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 1999. She was the first Indigenous Australian artist to win a major art prize at the AGNSW, and would continue to paint for another 20 years. Like Kngwarreye, Dreaming spirituality was influential in Petyarre’s work, such as referencing stories about her totem animal, the Arnkerrth or mountain devil lizard.