Gloria Petyarre, also known as Gloria Pitjara was born in 1942 in Utopia, Northern Territory, Australia. She is an Australian Aboriginalartist from the Anmatyerre community, just north of Alice Springs. She is indigenous to Australia, and is an aboriginal artist known her work called "Bush Medicine". She started as an artist in the Women's Batik Group in 1977 which was launched by the CAAMA She continues her artwork through her paintings, while also working with her sister; Kathleen Petyarre.
Career and artistic impacts
Gloria Petyarre starts her art career in the Women's Batik group and was known for Batik paint style. In 1999 Gloria won the Wynne Prize with her piece Leaves at the South Wales Gallery. The Australian magazine Art Collector called her "one of our most collectable indigenous artists". As of 2014, her overall career rank on the Australian indigenous art market was 13. Her piece was known for its strokes and paint style, which furthered Gloria's career. She became a travelling artist after the art exhibit in 1988 that was initiated by CAAMA. This art exhibit was held at the E.H.Sherwin Gallery in Sydney, Australia. Petyarre then traveled around the world to display her picture story exhibition. Going to Ireland, England, India, and the U.S.
Art style
Gloria uses baik style art medium, and she is known for her big leaf paintings. She is mixing colours on he canvas, and uses big and wide stokes in her works. Petyarre has worked in the Women's Batik Group with some of her family, like her sister Kathleen Petyarre and well-known aunt – Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Her work such as 'Bush Medicine' are influenced by huge brush strokes and heavy lines. She also creates feather-like strokes with vivid colours, like her piece 'Thorny Mountain Devil Lizard Dreaming'. Her style ranges from landscapes and natural tones, to vivid colours and smaller strokes. Her recent artwork has leaned towards her style in 'Bush Medicine" where brush strokes are deeper and bigger. Gloria work is sold online, and can be found in National Gallery of Australia. Petyarre lived at the Utopia community after 1977, where she started batik painting, exhibiting in shows around Australia for ten years. She began work on the 'Summer Project' in 1989 which involved translating the batik paintings onto canvas. She was one of the founding members of this Utopia Women's Batik Group. She paints an original subject titled Leaves as well as body paint designs and several Dreamtime stories such as pencil yam, bean, emu and mountain devil lizard and small brown grass. Her paintings – monochromatic or multi-coloured – have well defined segments filled with curved lines. Her style is known for its abstract fields and bright colours.
