Josie Petrick Kemarre

Josie Petrick Kemarre was born in approximately 1953 at Santa Teresa Community, just an hour from Alice Springs in Central Australia. Her family come from Atitjera (Harts Range) in Central Australia. As a young child Josie lived a relatively traditional lifestyle, hunting and gathering bush tucker. She married Robin Petyarre (sadly now passed away) and relocated to his homelands of Utopia in Central Australia. Together they had seven children as well as raising Josie’s nephew.

At Santa Teresa she worked as a chef which is where she met her husband. Later at Utopia she worked as a translator for the Central Land Council. It wasn’t until about 1990 that Josie commenced painting. Since that time she has attained a high degree of sophistication in the interpretation of her Dreaming stories. She paints the Bush Plum which she inherited from her father’s country.

She titles her artworks “Bush Fruits”, whereby she depicts a topography of the landscape and the seasonal cycle of the various bush fruits such as yam and wild bush berry. After rainfall the desert transforms from a stark and barren place to an abundance of vegetation and colour. The women will gather these edible fruits which are a principle food source (bush tucker) for the people living in Central Australia. The women will often celebrate the fruits during ceremonies to ensure continual regrowth of the vegetation. The dots are symbolic of the journey path and song lines for the bush berry after the rain. The artworks that Central Art has available are excellent examples of her style whereby she uses her fine dotting technique creates a fusion of abstract spiritual and cultural celebration. Her approach is both dynamic and bold. Her paintings are colourful and rich in texture.

Josie has emerged as a creative and innovative artist. She creates a visual harmony across the canvas. Josie is considered to be a collectable artist, having had her artworks exhibited around Australia as well as overseas. Both private and public collectors are including her artworks in their collections. She is rated to be in the Top 200 Aboriginal Artists. Her artworks are still affordable and as she continues to make her make on the art world her potential for further recognition grows.

Josie Petrick was one of Central Art’s original artists when it was founded. Our first website featured 11 of her paintings and within 6 weeks we had sold our very first painting, “Bush Fruits” by Josie Petrick. I (Sabine Haider, Director, Central Art) will always remember that moment. Josie is a hard worker and is extremely dedicated to her projects both artistic and otherwise. She had produced some amazing artworks and continues to do so.