Awelye, Mountain Devil - Ada Bird Petyarre

Ada Bird Petyarre was one of seven sisters who all became notable artists. Born in the Sandover region north-east of Alice Springs, she was one of the founding members of the Utopia Batik Group, whose work became an important step as Anmatyerre women embraced art after Utopia Station was returned to its traditional owners in 1978. A collection of 88 silk batiks was acquired by the Holmes à Court Collection in 1988 and was the subject of the book Utopia: A Picture Story, published the same year. Petyarre made her first painting on canvas in 1988 and held the first of her several solo exhibitions at Utopia Art, Sydney, in 1990. Subsequently, her paintings were included in major group shows in Australia and overseas, and were acquired for the collections of public institutions including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Art Gallery of South Australia.

This painting is based on women's ceremonial body paint designs, the translation to canvas offering a further aesthetic appreciation of an art tradition grown from one of the worlds oldest living cultures.