Janice Morton Kngwarreye

Alpitye/Bush Flowers, 2022  | 30h x 30w  |  RK781

Not stretched or framed  |  Acrylic on canvas

Janice Morton Kngwarreye (b. 1959) is the youngest daughter of Utopian artists Katie Kemarre and Billy (Stockman) Pitjara Morton. As part of the Alyawarre tribe she now lives at Rocket Range, on Utopia Station, with her sisters and extended family.

Together with her mother and sisters, she was involved in the important Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) batik-making community projects which resulted in Utopia – A Picture Story, 88 silk batiks from the Holmes a Court which toured throughout Australia. Her first foray into painting with acrylic on canvas began when CAAMA initiated Utopia Women’s Paintings the first works on canvas – A Summer Project. Janice’s work is featured in the Robert Holmes a Court exhibition and collection which has toured extensively within Australia and overseas.

Janice has been painting and making wood sculptures since early 1980s. She paints detailed studies of bush flowers, camp stories and designs associated with the stories from her country.

Among her painting subjects, Janice paints Wild Flowers, Sweet Honey Grevillea (Tharrkarr), Rainbow (Mpwelarr) and Honey Ant (Yerramp). She has also painted several scenes related to her grandfather’s memories of the Coniston Massacre of 1928.