Bessie Petyarre was born around 1960 in the Utopia region. Her mother, the late Polly Ngale, was one of Utopia’s most respected and sought-after Indigenous artists, and Bessie is proud to carry on her dot painting tradition. Her sister is the sculptor and painter Josie Kunoth Petyarre.

Her mother’s Country is Ahalpere and her father’s is Alhalkere. Alhalkere is Bessie’s main Country, and she has permission to paint the Dreamings of both. Growing up, she watched her mother, her aunties Kathleen Ngale and Angelina Pwerle, and other great Utopia women artists, including Emily Kame Kngwarreye, at work. Her late father-in-law was the renowned artist Kudditji Kngwarreye.

Like many Utopia women, Bessie first worked in batik before moving to acrylic on canvas, and began painting seriously in 2005. Her work is sold under several names, including Bessie Pitjara and Bessie Purvis Petyarre.

Bessie builds up layers of colour and dots into dense, glowing fields. From her mother’s Country she paints Anwekety (conkerberry, or bush plum) in dots alone. Her Alhalkere works, connected to the Kame (pencil yam) and Atnwelarr Dreamings, layer long lines of blended colour and strings of dots, crossed by a second set of lines running the other way.

The bush plum is still an important food for women, who gather the fruit once it ripens. Bessie’s palette follows the seasons: reds, oranges and yellows through to pinks, purples and deep plum, built up layer on layer for a shimmering, multi-dimensional effect.

She also paints Awelye designs and women’s ceremony.