Awelye (Women's Body Paint)by Eileen Bird Nungari

Eileen Bird Nungari (nee Webb) was one of the first artists Central Art began working with in 2004. Eileen had heard about Central Art - and me (Sabine Haider, Director of Central Art) through her mother-in-law Ada Bird Petyarre (Ada sadly passed away in 2010). Ada Bird Petyarre was pivotal in encouraging me to set up Central Art and it was through her support that Central Art is able to work with so many talented and highly acclaimed artists.

Eileen is an Eastern Arrente woman, born in approximately 1956 from the Bushy Park region. Eileen grew up at Harts Range Station, several hours north-east of Alice Springs in Central Australia. As a young woman Eileen met Paddy Bird, who is the eldest son of famed Utopian artist, Ada Bird Petyarre. The couple married and had 11 children together. Both Eileen and Paddy Bird are artists, as well as most of their children taking an interest and learning the stories and art of symbol depiction.

Eileen and Paddy live at Mulga Bore in the Utopia region of Central Australia, relocating here after they were married. Eileen began painting in the 1990’s as a recreational activity, which has grown into a career of some sort. Eileen’s paintings depict one of the, if not, the oldest form of art depiction – “Awelye” – or women’s body paint design. Her paintings depict the important body paint designs that are used during ceremonial times. The word “Awelye” would roughly translate to women’s business in English and is a term used to describe everything associated with women’s ceremony and lore. The body paint designs which are painted on the upper bodies of women also reflect the dancing tracks that the women will often take whilst participating in ceremonies. Traditionally ochre rocks are used as paint as they are soft and can be ground down and water added to make a natural paint.

Similarly to Ada Bird Petyarre, Eileen will often represent the breasts of women in her artworks, perhaps this was the influence of Ada Bird. Her paintings use a lot of contrasting colour and she is not afraid to use bright purples, yellows and reds in her works. The painting Central Art has available is a good example of some of her older works and is a very large piece, over 2 metres in length.  Eileen’s artworks have been shown in exhibitions around Australia and the USA.

View more artworks by this artist