Petrina Bedford Dale / Dumbi the Owl and Wandjinas

A third-generation Kimberley artist descended from Jack Dale Mengenen and Paddy Bedford who paints alongside her mother, Edna Dale. Her wider practice continues both Ngarinyin and Gija artistic traditions. Petrina’s mother, Edna Dale, is a senior artist and Petrina and her mother frequently paint side by side. Petrina was born in Derby, WA in 1998 and is a third generation West Kimberley artist.

Petrina was extremely close to her late grandfather Jack Dale who encouraged her to paint from a young age. Both her grandfathers – Jack Dale Mengenen (maternal) and Paddy Bedford (paternal) were widely respected Indigenous Kimberley artists (now deceased). Petrina was only 12 when her first artworks were included in an exhibition at Japingka Gallery in Perth alongside the artworks of her mother and grandfather.