Minnie Pwerle, Women's Ceremonies

MINNIE PWERLE (Australian, c. 1915-2006) Awelye, 2006 Acrylic on canvas 120cm x 90 cm Acquired June 2007 #Inventory/Catalogue No.109883

Biography:

Minnie Pwerle was an Alyawarre woman born in the Utopia region, in the Northern Territory.

Minnie’s artistic career commenced late in her life; through a family connection, Minnie met with the director of DACOU Gallery, based in Adelaide, I the late 1990s.  Presented with canvases, she commenced intuitively painting linear-based abstract works using a bold and vibrant palette, works which quickly caught the attention of numerous collectors, museums and galleries.

As she was a custodian for her country her artwork typically pays homage to her Dreamings or “Awelye-Atnwengerrp (Women’s Dreaming)”, as well as her country and ancestors.

Minnie’s ‘Awelye Atnwengerrp’ is represented in both the ochre designs painted on the top half of women’s bodies for awelye*, the traditional women’s ceremonies, and in her paintings.  On canvas, as in ceremony, Monnie’s linear abstract compositions comprise groupings of lines and circles, with some specific brushstrokes alluding the sacred body markings.  Infused into these expressive works are the lively rhythms of the ceremonies, and the energy and movements of women dancing and singing around open fires in the desert sand.

Minnie lived with her children near Arlparra store at Utopia and continued to paint until her passing in 2006.

*”Awelye” meaning “Anmatyerre women’s songs and dances; women’s ceremony and law”[1]

[1] Isaacs, J., Spirit Country: Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art, Hardie Grant Books, San Francisco, USA, 1999, p. 230