Kathleen Petyarre
(born 1945)
MOUNTAIN DEVIL LIZARD DREAMING – HAILSTORM, 2007/08
synthetic polymer paint on linen
183.0 x 244.0 cm
inscribed verso: Kathleen Petyarre
Estimate:
$50,000 - $70,000
lot details
Commissioned by Gallerie Australis, Adelaide (cat. GAKP0408528)
Private collection, Adelaide
Related Works
For another earlier example of the Mountain Lizard Dreaming – Hailstorm see: Nicholls, C., and North, I., Kathleen Petyarre, Genius of Place, Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 2001, p. 45
This painting represents an aerial composition of Kathleen Petyarre's sacred Dreaming site of the Mountain Devil Lizard, situated near Mosquito Bore on Utopia Station. It is here that the men and women of the eastern Anmatyerre language conduct important secret and sacred initiation ceremonies.
Representing a sacred women's Dreaming site, the centre of this painting is associated with the green pea (antweth) and the elongated X-shape represents two of the artist's Mountain Ancestors Dreaming paths. Throughout the painting are seeds (ntang) of the pea, which are an important food for the "traditional healer" (ngangkar), and the Mountain Devil Lizard (Arnkerrth).
The white painted areas represent hailstones (Puta Puta) indicating that a big hailstorm has passed over the country. Hailstorms are an unusual occurrence during the summer storms that cross the deserts of central Australia.