Janice Kngwarreye Morton
About
Skin: Kngwarrey (also known as Ngwarrai)
Language Group: Alyawarr
Region: Rocket Range, Utopia, Northern Territory
Dreaming: Rainbow (Mpwelarr), Wichetty grub (Tyap), Wild Fig (Tywerrk), Ngkwarlerlanem Country, Honey Ant (Yerramp)
Janice's Story
Janice Kngwarrey Morton, born in 1959, is the youngest daughter of Utopian artists Katie Kemarre and Billy (Stockman) Pitjara Morton. As part of the Alyawarr tribe she now lives at Rocket Range, on Utopia Station, with her sisters and extended family.
Together with her mother and sisters, she was involved in the important Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) batik-making community projects which resulted in Utopia – A Picture Story, 88 silk batiks from the Holmes a Court which toured throughout Australia. Her first foray into painting with acrylic on canvas began when CAAMA initiated Utopia Women’s Paintings the first works on canvas – A Summer Project.
Janice has been painting and making wood sculptures since early 1980s. She paints detailed studies of bush flowers, camp stories and designs associated with the stories from her country.
Janice’s work is featured in the Robert Holmes a Court exhibition and collection which has toured extensively within Australia and overseas.
Among her painting subjects, Janice paints Wild Flowers, Sweet Honey Grevillea (Tharrkarr), Rainbow (Mpwelarr) and Honey Ant (Yerramp). She has also painted several scenes related to her grandfather’s memories of the Coniston Massacre of 1928.
Exhibitions
2007 - Patterns of Power, Art from the Eastern Desert, Simmer on the Bay, Sydney
2007 - Eastern Desert Dreaming, Artists from Utopia, GalleryG, Brisbane
2008 - Power of Place, Tandanya: National Aboriginal Cultural Institute Inc., Adelaide
2011 - Utopian Aboriginal Art, Without Pier Art Gallery, Melbourne
2011 - Desert Visions, Prairie Hotel, Parachilna, South Australia
2014 - Indigenous Group Show, Without Pier Art Gallery, Melbourne
2017 - Prairie Hotel, Parachilna, South Australia
2018 - Indigenous Group Show, Without Pier Art Gallery, Melbourne
2019 - Prairie Hotel, Parachilna, South Australia
Artworks
A collection of Janice’s artworks below.
