Gloria Petyarre / Medicine Leaves

A leading Anmatyerre artist and founding member of the Utopia Women’s Batik Group. Her innovative artworks transformed traditional narratives and Country into a distinctive contemporary visual language. Her Aunt is the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye, the most widely respected painter of the Utopia Movement and Australia’s best recognised desert artist.

In the 1980s, Gloria made her first art-making on canvas (for CAAMA's Summer Project exhibition) and developed her unique approach of depicting the narratives and her understanding of the traditional country. In the 1970s, Gloria was a founding member of the Utopia Women's Batik Group. In 1990 she travelled to Ireland, London and India as a representative of the Utopia Women in the 'Utopia – A picture narrative' exhibition and in 1995/96, she received a Full Fellowship Grant from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Board of The Australia Council.