Jeannie Mills Pwerle / Yam Dreaming (JMP803)

Jeannie Mills Pwerle was born on 15 May 1965 and is an Alyawarr artist from the Utopia region of Central Australia, northeast of Alice Springs. Her traditional Country includes Irrwelty and Atnwengerrp. Jeannie is the daughter of respected Utopia artist Dolly Mills, the niece of the late senior elder and artist Greeny Purvis Petyarre, and the great-niece of celebrated artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye.

Growing up among Utopia’s senior women artists, Jeannie was surrounded by the batik and painting movements that brought international recognition to artists from the region. She was a contributing artist to the landmark 1989 project Utopia Women’s Paintings, the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, which marked the transition of many Utopia artists from batik to acrylic painting on canvas. Jeannie also spent many years painting alongside Ahalpere elder Lena Pwerle, learning through observation, shared practice and cultural knowledge.

Jeannie is best known for her paintings of Anaty, the Desert Yam, also known as the Pencil Yam or Bush Potato. Her compositions are formed from hundreds of repeated brushstrokes arranged in rhythmic rows and surrounded by delicate white dot work. The brushwork represents the flowers and growth of the yam plant, while the fine dots depict its seeds.

Colour is central to Jeannie’s practice. She works across a wide range of palettes, from soft, closely related tones to rich combinations of contrasting colours. Individual brushstrokes often contain several blended shades, creating subtle variations throughout the composition. Although highly contemporary and abstract in appearance, the paintings remain firmly connected to Anaty and its cultural importance on her Country.

Jeannie is also a respected ngangker, or traditional healer. For many years she lived near the Utopia health clinic, where people regularly visited her for traditional healing and bush medicines. She now lives in Alice Springs but continues to maintain her connection with Utopia, travelling back to Country and collecting Anaty when it is available. She continues to prepare bush medicines for people who seek her knowledge and assistance.

Jeannie’s work has been exhibited throughout Australia and internationally. In 2008, a major Anaty painting was selected as a finalist in the 25th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. Her work was also included in Connection: Songlines from Australia’s First Peoples, the immersive exhibition presented at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra in 2022. Her paintings are represented in collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the Holmes à Court Collection and the Mbantua Gallery Collection.

Solo Exhibitions

• 2026 Anaty, Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs and Darwin, Northern Territory
• 2021 Jeannie Mills, Utopia Lane Gallery, Melbourne

Selected Group Exhibitions

• 2025 Synergy 2025: First Nations Art from Around Australia, Everywhen Art, Shoreham, Victoria
• 2023 Central Desert Showcase, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2023 The Summer Show 2023 | Grand Design, Everywhen Art, Shoreham, Victoria
• 2023 Top 20 of 2022, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2022 Utopia & Beyond, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2022 Synergy 2022: First Nations Artists from Around Australia, Everywhen Art, Shoreham, Victoria
• 2022 Connection: Songlines from Australia’s First Peoples, National Museum of Australia, Canberra
• 2022 Blues and Reds of the Turning Season, Everywhen Art, Shoreham, Victoria
• 2021 Sounds of Summer 2, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2021 Synergy: Art from the Heartlands of Aboriginal Australia, Everywhen Art, Shoreham, Victoria
• 2020 Sounds of Summer, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2020 Colours of Spring, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2020 Central Focus, Art Mob, Hobart
• 2019 Defining Tradition | The Colourists, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2019 Landscape Colours, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2016 Spring Colour, Kate Owen Gallery, Sydney
• 2014 Small Works Collection, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2012 Little Gems, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2010 Summer Collection, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2009 Desert Miniatures, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2008 Utopia Collection, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2006 Colours of Utopia, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
• 2004 Last of the 20th Century, Mbantua Gallery, Northern Territory
• 2002 Art & Soul Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
• 2002 The Cove Gallery, Portland, Oregon, USA, benefit exhibition for the OHSU Heart Research Centre
• 2002 Urban Wine Works, Portland, Oregon, USA, benefit exhibition for the OHSU Heart Research Centre
• 2002 Mary’s Woods, Portland, Oregon, USA, benefit exhibition for the OHSU Heart Research Centre
• 1993 Central Australian Aboriginal Art and Craft Exhibition, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs
• 1990 Utopia: A Picture Story, an exhibition of 88 works on silk from the Holmes à Court Collection
• 1989 Utopia Women’s Paintings: The First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project

Selected Collections

• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
• Holmes à Court Collection, Perth
• Mbantua Gallery Collection, Alice Springs

Jeannie paints the Desert Yam, also known as the Pencil Yam or Bush Potato, from her father’s Country at Irrwelty in Alyawarr Country, Utopia, northeast of Alice Springs.

The yam grows beneath the ground, while its slender vine spreads across the surface and produces flowers following summer rain. Its underground tuber is an important traditional bush food that can be eaten raw or cooked and has long been gathered by Aboriginal people throughout the desert regions. The plant is also valued for its traditional medicinal uses.

In this painting, Jeannie’s repeated brushstrokes represent the flowers and growth of the yam plant, while the fine white dot work depicts its seeds. Arranged in rhythmic rows, these elements suggest the plant spreading across Country and continuing its natural cycle of growth and renewal.

Through her Yam Dreaming paintings, Jeannie celebrates this important plant and pays homage to its spirit, abundance and enduring connection to her father’s Country.