Aboriginal Artist from Utopia

Molly Pwerle

Molly is a younger blood sister of the celebrated artist Minnie Pwerle and the aunt of internationally known artist, Barbara Weir. 

As young girls Molly and her sister Galya worked for the Chalmers family, who took up the lease of MacDonald Downs Station in 1923 and later, in the 1960s, leased Utopia Station. In 1975 Utopia Station was sold to the government and handed back to the traditional owners. It is here in the small community outstation ofIrrultja, 300kms north-east of Alice Springs, that Molly lives with her sistersGalya and Emily, both well known artists and another sister, Lottie. 

Like Galya and Emily, Molly did not start to paint until 2004 at which time her niece, Barbara, organised a number of workshops where the sisters, including Minnie, individually and collaboratively painted their Dreaming stories. 

Sharing the same Dreamings, each sister has developed her own painting style and interpretation. Molly’s paintings are characterised by a series of long horizontal or vertical lines which represent the markings painted on the upper part of the women’s bodies when they gather to perform their ceremonial dance. These lines represent dancing tracks in the sand made by the women as they dance. 

Awelye Atnwengerrp P5216 90 x 120 cm

 

The dance which Molly paints is owned only by the women of the Pwerle and Kemarre skin groups. The dance tells the story of how the Dreamtime women danced all day and night. Today, the dreamtime dance tracks can be seen as runnels in a flat rock at a sacred site in Utopia. 

Molly’s paintings are eagerly sought after by collectors and are held in galleries in Australia and overseas.