Jedda Purvis Kngwarreye
Jedda Purvis Kngwarreye was born at Boundary Bore; an area in Utopia, a community located 240 kilometres north east of Alice Springs known for its quality art. She is the daughter of accomplished Utopian artist Greeny Purvis Petyarre (who sadly passed away in May 2010) and Kathleen Kemarre.
Jedda’s artistic career began in the late 1980’s when as a young woman she participated in the famous “Utopia: A Picture Story”, which was a community project where silk batiks were introduced to the women of Utopia. The project was such a success that the full collection of 88 silk batiks was acquired by the Robert Holmes a Court Collection which they toured the exhibition through Eire and Scotland.
In many of her paintings, Jedda depicts the Dreaming “Kame”, which was handed down to her from her father’s side of the family. It is one of Utopia’s most famous Dreamtime stories, which was shared with Emily Kame Kngwarreye, the most well known and collectable Aboriginal artist of all time. “Kame” or Yam is an important plant which grows in the Utopia region - it is an important food source as well as a traditional healing plant.
Women celebrate the pencil yam through ceremonies to ensure perpetual germination for future seasons. Jedda depicts the root system of the yam plant in her paintings and carefully chooses her colours to create her own distinct style.
Jedda is an emerging artist from Utopia with a strong following.
