Janice Kngwarreye Morton

Artist: Janice Kngwarreye Morton

Skin Name: Kngwarreye (also known as Ngwarrai)

Language Group: Alyawarr

Region: Rocket Range, Utopia, Northern Territory

Vendor: Utopian Aboriginal Art

Dreaming: Rainbow (Mpwelarr), Wichetty grub (Tyap), Wild Fig (Tywerrk), Ngkwarlerlanem Country, Honey Ant (Yerramp)

Janice Kngwarreye Morton, born in 1959, is the youngest daughter of Utopian artists Mary Kemarre and Billy (Stockman) Pitjara Morton. As part of the Alyawarr 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.

Among her painting subjects, Janice paints Wild Flowers, Sweet Honey Grevillea (Tharrkarr), Rainbow (Mpwelarr) and Honey Ant (Yerramp).

Bibliography:

• Brody, A., 1989, Utopia Women's Paintings: the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, 1988-89, exhib. cat., Heytesbury Holdings, Perth. ©
• Brody, A., 1990, Utopia: a Picture Story, 88 Silk Batiks from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Heytesbury Holdings Ltd, Perth. ©
• Johnson, V., 1994, The Dictionary of Western Desert Artists, Craftsman House, East Roseville, New South Wales. ©
• 1990, Contemporary Aboriginal Art from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, exhib. cat., Heytesbury Holdings Ltd., Perth.
• 1991, Aboriginal Women's Exhibition, exhib. cat., Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.

Exhibitions:

• 1989, Utopia Women's Paintings, the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, 1988-89, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney.
• 1990, 'Utopia - A Picture Story,' an exhibition of 88 works on silk from the Holmes a Court Collection by Utopia artists which toured Eire and Scotland.
• 1990, Contemporary Aboriginal Art from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Harvard University, University of Minnesota, Lake Oswego Center for the Arts, United States of America.
• 1991, Aboriginal Women's Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney