Anna Price Petyarre

Anna Price Petyarre, born 1960, is an Anmatyerre woman from the Boundary Bore area of the former Utopia Station, north east of Alice Springs. Anna is also known as Anna Pitjara, Anna Price and Anna Price Pitjara. She is the daughter of the late Glory Ngarla (Ngale, or Ngal) and niece to the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye.

Anna began painting in the early 1980s.

Anna initially primarily painted Yam Seed Dreaming in a colourful and intricate expression of the songs and stories associated with her plant totem, the Bush Yam, and its seeds. The Bush Yam has been a staple food and water source for the Anmatyerre people for countless years and the seeds that form and scatter from the plant are ground up to make flour for damper. During ceremony, it is Anna's duty to pay homage to the yam seeds and give thanks for their abundance and regenerative qualities. By painting to the tempo of a ceremonial song, Anna expresses her connection to her plant totem in a permanent medium.

A versatile and creative artist Anna has changed her painting style radically several times over the last decade and now concentrates on extremely finely dotted works which represent her country and its ceremonial sites at Boundary Bore.

Copyright Kate Owen Gallery May 2022