Utopia Aboriginal Art: Aboriginal Paintings from the Central Desert

Utopia Aboriginal Art and the Utopia Aboriginal artists today follow the tradition of the famous artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye who paved the way for a contemporary and abstract style referenced to awelye (Women’s Ceremony) and depicted in fine dotting work. Women artists dominate this community as they maintain their traditional ceremonial ways paying homage in their art work to their role as food gatherers.

The Anmatyerre and Alyawarre people living on their traditional lands in the Utopia region are considered some of the first inhabitants of Australia, possibly living in this region for over forty thousand years.

Utopia Aboriginal Art in the form of body painting and sand painting has been produced for ceremonial occasions continuously for thousands of years.

In the 1980’s the Utopian women were introduced to batik painting as a means to establish a source of income for the women. These pieces were an immediate success capturing a rawness and vitality that had not been seen before.

With encouragement from Lindsay Bird Mpetyane, the women were then introduced to acrylic paint producing small canvasses which were even more distinctive than the batiks.

Emily Kame Kngwarreye was the first outstanding artist from Utopia gaining international success with her richly layered brushstrokes and abstract compositions.

Emily paved the way for the contemporary Utopian art movement and today the work produced continues to be distinctive with its fine dotting work.

Central Art Aboriginal Art Store has more than 200 Utopia Aboriginal Art paintings and maintains a close relationship with the Utopia Aboriginal artists. It was the Utopian women artists who first offered their support and encouragement to Sabine Haider to establish Central Art. Because of this ongoing relationship Central Art has access to the next generation of artists from this region.

The themes in the art works follow the traditional Dreaming stories but unlike the art in adjoining regions, the stories are not represented in an iconic or figurative sense but more in a spatial sense. At times ‘the whole story’ is produced and at other times the artists may focus on just one element.

Women artists dominate Utopian art. They continue to maintain their traditional culture in awelye (women’s ceremony) and the artworks reflect the traditional body painting done during these ceremonies. Other artists paying homage in their art to their traditional role as food gatherers and their respect for the land and the food it provides. Many art works relate to specific food types such as the bush Yam Dreaming, bush medicine leaves or bush melon seeds.

The Old Woman Mountain Dreaming (or Thorny Devil Lizard) is a major Dreaming story from this region and features prominently in several art works. This creation story tells of the journey of the female ancestors as they travelled across country pinpointing relevant significant sites essential for survival. In the artworks these references are depicted as a symbolic line of trees indicating the location of underground water, the seasonal cycle and location of various native food or the sites of waterholes.

Central Art also has works from significant male artists from this region and although contemporary in design they are imbued with the traditional knowledge and love of country.

Utopia Aboriginal Art: Aboriginal Paintings from the Central Desert

Sales Enquiries