Anna Petyarre

Anna Price Petyarre was born around 1965 on Utopia Station, north east of Alice Springs, in Anmatyerre country and is the daughter of artist Glory Ngale.

Like many of the women from this region, Anna was introduced to art using western media relatively young, being involved in Batik projects and taking up painting at a young age in the 1980's.

Anna depicts the Bush Yam, Bush Yam Seed and Salt Lakes stories. These are the Dreamings of her grandfather and father’s country from the Boundary Bore region. As a traditional Aboriginal woman who engages in sacred ceremonies, she also paints women’s body painting designs.

Anna takes the utmost care and pride in her work and endeavours to bring the sensitivity of her culture to the canvas. Anna paints the salt lakes found in and around her home country. Her painting is an aerial perspective of the salt lakes and surrounding country. The large circles show dried salt plains that have formed over time. Following the heavy rains of the monsoon, large water holes are created. Gradually the water evaporates leaving only the salt behind, which form the large rings represented in Anna’s work. The other facets of Anna’s painting show colours of the earth found in Utopia, the rich red sand, the clay, and the ochres all moving together with the contours of the land.

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