Janet Golder Kngwarreye / Women’s Dreaming (JG147)

Janet Golder Kngwarreye is an Anmatyerre artist from Mulga Bore on the Utopia Homelands. The artistic line in her family runs deep. Janet is the daughter of Margaret Golder and Sammy Pitjara. Her grandmothers are esteemed Utopia artists Polly Ngale and Angelina Pwerle, her uncle is Greeny Purvis and her sister Belinda Golder Kngwarreye is also an accomplished artist. Janet is married to Ronnie Bird, son of famous artist Ada Bird Petyarre.

Janet began painting in 1987, learning her skills from family members and taking on the subject matter that was familiar to the women artists in her family group. These include the Awelye Women’s Ceremonial Body Paint and the Bush Yam Leaf designs and stories as well as Bush Medicine and Mountain Devil Dreaming. In recent times Janet has developed further stories based around the women’s cultural practice on Country, combining imagery of bush tucker along with features of the Utopia landscape.

Janet Golder Kngwarreye is highly skilled in her use of colour with her paintings often fusing black and white design with colour elements. Janet has exhibited in galleries around Australia and internationally.

Awards and Recognition
• 2022 Connection | Songlines from Australia’s First Peoples in a spectacular immersive experience, National Museum of Australia, Canberra
• 2020 one of Janet’s work has been chosen to decorate the Coles supermarket in Alice Springs
• 2014 Janet transformed a Smeg FAB28 fridge at the National Architecture Awards, Darwin

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023
• Celebrating Country | Women Artists of Art Mob, Art Mob, Hobart

2022
• Connection, National Museum of Australia, Canberra
• Synergy 2022, First Nations Artists from around Australia, Everywhen Art, Shoreham VIC

2021
• Synergy: Art from the Heartlands of Aboriginal Australia, Everywhen Art, Shoreham VIC
• Top 20 2021, Art Mob, Hobart

2020
• Sounds of Summer, Japingka Gallery, Perth
• 60 by 60 – Small Paintings, Japingka Gallery, Perth
• Central Focus, Art Mob, Hobart
• Cup of Joy – New Works from Rising Stars, Japingka Gallery, Perth

2019
• Landscape Colours, Japingka Gallery, Perth

2018
• Painting on Country – Utopia Artists, Japingka Gallery, Perth

2004
• Aug-Sep – Mbantua Gallery USA exhibition; Knoxville, Tennessee

2003
• Mbantua Gallery USA exhibitions: New City Merchants, Knoxville, TN; Art and Soul Gallery, Nashville, TN; ‘The Cove Gallery’ Portland, OR; Mary’s Woods, Portland, OR, USA

2002
• Mbantua Gallery USA exhibitions: New City Merchants, Knoxville, TN; Art and Soul Gallery, Nashville, TN; ‘The Cove Gallery’ Portland, OR; Urban Wine Works, Portland, OR; Mary’s Woods, Portland, OR, USA

Janet brings to life the spirit of her country, Alhalkere — a land woven into her being.

Flowing lines trace the sacred Awelye, the women’s ceremonies and body paint designs passed down through time. With ochre, charcoal, and ash ground from the earth, the women decorate one another’s bodies — chest, arms, thighs — using soft-padded sticks to apply the ancient patterns.

The ‘U’ shapes are the women themselves, gathered in song, their voices rising in rhythm with each brush of paint. These ceremonies honour the land, the ancestors, and the health and harmony of the people.

Scattered through the painting are the star-like flowers of the Atnwelarre — the pencil yam — a creeping vine with golden blooms and slender roots. Nourishing and plentiful, these yams are gathered and eaten raw or cooked in the coals of the fire. Fine dotting speaks of Kame, the seeds of the yam, scattered across the desert earth.

The bold circles tell of Atwakeye, the bush orange tree. Its leathery leaves and hanging fruit offer sweetness to those who know where to look. Concentric rings ripple out like memory — waterholes marked in paint, life held in each one.