In 1979, the Utopia pastoral lease was returned to the traditional owners, the Anmatyerre and Alyawarre Aboriginal custodians. They developed camps in various parts of the homeland and were introduced first to batik and later painting and wood carving.
Emily was one of a number of women living at Utopia who were introduced to fabric dyeing techniques in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their works were featured in the exhibition Utopia: A Picture Story, for the Robert Holmes à Court collection and the catalogue that accompanied it.
Her early batiks, like those of other female artists, introduced motifs drawn from plant, animal, and natural forms that were important to them, as well as motifs used in body painting. This batik was among the last that she made before concentrating on painting, and anticipated the bold linear brush strokes (sometimes overlaid with dots) that she employed in her paintings. Emily stopped making batik in 1988.
Through her original and expressive paintings on canvas, she was rapidly identified as the pre-eminent artist from Utopia. Her work depicted designs from body paint images, plant motifs, or Dreaming maps showing important sites. They developed into characteristic abstract patterns of overlaying lines and/or dots that referred to important stories and ceremonies.
Chapman Gallery, ACT
Private Collection, ACT
