Freda Price Pitjara

Freda Price Pitjara was born c.1984 in the community of Utopia (350km northeast of Alice Springs). She comes from a long line of famous artists. Freda is the daughter of renowned artist Anna Price Pitjara, the granddaughter of the late Gloria (Glory) Ngale and a descendant of the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye.

Like her mother, Freda uses intricately detailed dotting and monochrome colours in her paintings. She was taught to paint at a young age, watching and learning from her mother and her wider family. Her dreaming was passed down to her by her mother and as such she paints: ‘My Mother’s Country’, ‘Bush Yam Dreaming’ and ‘My Country’. Her paintings are a topographical depiction of Country, depicting the sacred sites, focusing often on Yam seeds, which are abundant in Utopia. For generations, the Anmatyerre people have been harvesting the seeds from this plant, to be ground down into a fine powder to make damper. It is a highly nutritious and a hardy food source in the desert. The sacred plant is often celebrated in women’s ceremonies, through song, dance and body painting.

Freda is an emerging artist from the Utopia region and her paintings have gained a strong following within a short space of time.