Molly Pwerle

Molly is a younger blood sister of the celebrated artist Minnie Pwerle and the aunt of internationally known artist, Barbara Weir.

As young girls Molly and her sister Galya worked for the Chalmers family, who took up the lease of MacDonald Downs Station in 1923 and later, in the 1960s, leased Utopia Station. In 1975 Utopia Station was sold to the government and handed back to the traditional owners. It is here in the small community outstation Irrultja, 300kms north-east of Alice Springs, where Molly lives with her sisters Galya and Emily, both well known artists.

Like Galya and Emily, Molly did not start to paint until 2004 at which time her niece, Barbara, organised a number of workshops where the sisters, including Minnie, individually and collaboratively painted their Dreaming stories.

Sharing the same Dreamings, each sister has developed her own painting style and interpretation. Molly’s paintings are characterised by a series of long horizontal or vertical lines which represent the markings painted on the upper part of the women’s bodies when they gather to perform their ceremonial dance. These lines represent dancing tracks in the sand made by the women as they dance.

This artist biography and photograph is copyright protected. Please view our copyright policy if you would like to reproduce this material.