Jeanna Petyarre

Jeanna Petyarre (b. 1950s), also known as Jeannie Petyarre, is a member of a family of artists that includes Kathleen Petyarre, Ada Bird Petyarre and Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Jeanna Petyarre is from the Utopia district of Central Australia. Her works feature in a number of collections including the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, and the Holmes à Court Collection in Perth, as well as many private collections.

Jeanna began her painting career in the 1980s, with her works predominantly representing the traditional plants that her people collect and use as food sources and for medicinal purposes, specifically the Bush Yam and Bush Medicine Leaves.

Originally from the Indonesian Islands, Batik textiles were introduced to Australia enmass in the early 1970s, where aboriginal artists developed it further as their own craft. In 1988, Jeanna joined a group of women who would go on to produce Batik work using desert design on silk and cotton. 1990 A Picture Story exhibition of 88 works on silk from the Holmes a Court Collection by Utopian artists which toured Eire and Scotland 2012 Desert Gold, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle WA