Awelye/My Mother's Dreaming | 90h x 60w | RK557
Not stretched or framed | Acrylic on primed linen
Betty Club Mbitjana (1945-2023) was a highly respected Anmatyerre artist from the Atnwengerrp community in Utopia, Northern Territory. The daughter of Minnie Pwerle and sister of Barbara Weir, she belonged to one of Australia’s most significant artistic families.
She began her career in the 1970's, working firstly in batik before moving to acrylic painting, where she continued the bold Awelye Body Paint Designs that her mother made famous.
Her work carried the Dreamings passed down to her, including Awelye – Atnwengerrp, Bush Melon, Bush Berry, Bush Plum, and Wild Orange (Akarley). These paintings, with their sweeping stripes, curves, and rhythmic linework, reflected both women’s ceremonial body paint designs and the abundance of bush foods found on Country. The designs were deeply tied to women’s law and ceremony, where ochre patterns are painted on the body, accompanied by song and dance to keep ancestral knowledge strong.
Betty lived her later years in Alice Springs, moving into aged care in 2021, and passed away in May 2023, leaving a lasting legacy as a key figure in contemporary Aboriginal art.
Her paintings are represented in many major public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Victoria, the Araluen Arts Centre, Artbank, and the United Nations Building in Geneva.
