Kathleen Petyarre was born circa 1940, at the remote location of Atnangkere, on the western boundary of Utopia Station, 150 miles north-east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia. Kathleen belongs to the Alyawarre / Eastern Anmatyerre clan and speaks Eastern Anmatyerre, with English as her second language.

Kathleen, with her daughter Margaret and her sister’s, settled at Mosquito Bore, on Utopia Station near her birthplace. Kathleen now spends part of the year at her residence in Adelaide. Kathleen’s mother and seven sisters have managed to hold onto their land near Utopia Station as a group, establishing a camp at Atneftyeye Boundary Bore. Kathleen was one of the key Anmatyerre women involved in the successful claim for the freehold title, which led to the 1979 formal hand-over of the Utopia pastoral lease back to its traditional owners.

Kathleen’s inherited Dreaming stories, from her father and mother, are Mountain Devil Lizard, or Thorny Devil Lizard (Arnkerrthe), Women Hunting Emu, and Dingo (Atnangkerre) and all of her Aboriginal Art directly refer to these “Dreamings” and the associated country around Utopia in the eastern central desert of Australia.

Awards:

• 1996 Joint Second Prize, Open Award Category - The Third National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Heritage Commission Art Award, Canberra, ACT., Australia.

• 1996 Overall Winner of the Telstra 13th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Darwin, NT., Australia.

• 1997 Overall Winner of the Visy Board Art Prize, the Barossa Vintage Festival Art Show, Nurioopta, SA. Australia.

• 1998 Finalist, 1998 Seppelts Contemporary Art Award - Visual Art Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW Australia.

• 1998 Winner, People’s Choice Award, 1998 Seppelts Contemporary Art Award, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, NSW., Australia.