Doreen Payne Petyarre
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Artist Profile · Northern Territory
Doreen Payne Petyarre
Alyawarr painter and carver of Honey Grevillea, Honey Ant and women’s ceremony.
Born
c. 1954
Language group
Alyawarr
Skin name
Petyarre (also Petyarr, Pitjara)
Country
Ngkwarlerlanem, Utopia; lives at Mulga Bore
Family
Doreen Payne Petyarre was married to the late Harold Payne Mpetyane, and together they raised a large family of artists. Their children include Bronwyn Payne Ngale, Richard, Johnny, Jimmy and Laura. Doreen lives with her children and their families at Mulga Bore in southern Utopia.
Her work
Doreen’s stories come from her Country, Ngkwarlerlanem, in the north-west of Utopia. She paints in two distinct styles: colourful fields of tiny dots for her Country and the Tharrkarr (Honey Grevillea) Dreaming and Yerramp (Honey Ant) story, and bold lines for Awelye, the body paint designs of women’s ceremony.
She is also a skilled carver of birds, lizards and people. She shapes each piece with a tomahawk, rasp and file, then smooths the rough edges by scraping them with broken glass.
Yerramp (Honey Ant)
Awelye (Body Paint)
Wood carving
Related artists
Doreen’s daughter Bronwyn Payne Ngale also paints. For more Utopia carving, see Billy Petyarre.
Buying Doreen’s work
Buy through a recognised Indigenous art gallery, and always ask for a certificate of authenticity and provenance.
Paintings by Doreen Payne Petyarre on eBay
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