Sarah Morton Kngwarreye / Wild Flowers (1B)

Sarah is daughter of Utopian artist Mary Morton Kemarre. Along with her mother and sisters, Lucky, Audrey, Ruby and Valerie Morton, Sarah was part of the batik workshops in the 1980’s at Utopia. Sarah’s work is featured in the ‘Robert Holmes á Court’ exhibition and collection which has toured extensively within Australia and abroad.

Sarah began painting in the summer of 1988-9 as part of the CAAMA project with the Utopia women’s paintings: ‘The First works on Canvas, A Summer Project’. She has continued to paint with acrylics on canvas.

Painting is a part of life for Sarah, which she enjoys doing when not travelling for her education or participating in cultural business. She attends Bachelor College which has seen her travel to Darwin, Tenant Creek and Alice Springs.

Selected Exhibitions
1985 • Second National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory 1989 • Utopia Women’s Paintings, the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project• S.H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney

1990 • Utopia – A Picture Story, an exhibition of 88 works on Silk from the Holmes a Court Collection by Utopia Artists which toured Eire and Scotland • Contemporary Aboriginal Art from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Harvard University, University of Minnesota, Lake Oswego Centre for the Arts, USA

1991 • Eighth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory 1994 • Eleventh National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory

1998 • Dreamings, Spazio Pitti Arte, Florence, Italy and Vlaams-Europeesch Conferentiecentrum, Brussels, Belgium • Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs, N.T • Exhibition in Art Centre Meerzigt, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands • “The Hague Unites the Nation”, upon request of the Australian Embassy acting as representatives of Australia, Grote Kerk, The Hague, The Netherlands • Volkenkundig Museum, Rotterdam, The Netherlands • Art Gallery “Culture Store”, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

1999 • Aboriginal Art Galerie Bahr Exhibition, Germany and catalogue

2002 • Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs, N.T • Art and Soul Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A • ‘The Cove Gallery’ Portland, Oregon USA • Urban Wine Works, Portland, Oregon USA • Mary’s Woods, Portland, Oregon USA

2003 • New City Merchants, Knoxville, Tennessee USA • Art and Soul Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee USA • ‘The Cove Gallery’ Portland, Oregon USA • Contemporary Aboriginal Art Event, Umpqua Bank, Portland, Oregon USA  • Mary’s Woods, Portland Oregon USA • Art From The Dreamtime, Portland Art Museum, Portland Oregon USA

2004 • Mbantua Gallery USA exhibition; Nashville and Greenwich

Collections

• Museum of Victoria, Melbourne • The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra • The Holmes á Court Collection, Perth • Mbantua Gallery Permanent Collection, Alice Springs

This painting represents the Wild Flowers (Alpeyt) of the acacia plant. The Indigenous women from the central desert regions collect the flowers as well as the seeds, leaves and pods from the acacia plant for both traditional bush medicine and food.