Freda Price Petyarre / Country (FP125)

Born in 1984 in Utopia, NT, Freda Price Petyarre comes from one of the most renowned painting families in Australia. Her mother is prominent senior Utopian artist Anna Price Petyarre, and from a young age Freda was surrounded by art, culture, and family creativity. Encouraged and mentored by her mother and other family members, Freda has developed into a talented and consistent artist in her own right.

Her works share stylistic similarities with her mother’s — featuring intricate dot work that tells the stories of her country.

Freda is related by marriage to Emily Kame Kngwarreye (her grandfather was Michael Kngwarreye), and her grandmother is the late Gloria (Glory) Ngale. Gloria was known for her remarkable eye for colour, a legacy of her early Batik work, which she passed down through her daughters and granddaughters.

Freda and her husband have five children and continue to live on their homelands in Utopia, NT.

Freda’s artwork offers a finely detailed, topographical view of her family homelands in Utopia, Central Australia. The painting is both a visual and spiritual representation of Country, illustrating sand hills, dry riverbeds, and important ceremonial landmarks.

Certain plants — whether leaves, flowers, bark or seeds—are gathered when in season or as needed. This is often done in groups, allowing older women to pass on vital cultural knowledge to the younger ones. Ceremonial sites, frequently depicted in Freda’s work, are places where women come together for girls’ initiation and other important aspects of Women’s Law.

The women sit around waterholes — precious sources of life in the desert—and when the waterholes are full, there is usually an abundance of bush tucker. This sustains them during the long periods they camp out on Country for Women’s Business.