BARBARA WEIR - MY MOTHER'S COUNTRY
BARBARA WEIR
MY MOTHER'S COUNTRY, 2006
141 x 263 cm
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Belgian Linen
REGION
Utopia, NT
PROVENANCE
Dacou Gallery, SA
Private Collection, NSW
Cooee Art Leven, NSW
STORY
“I paint my mother's country, the land where we live, find and prepare our food. I paint the same old stories I heard as a child, only my personal style is different"My Mother's Country is created by an intricate formation of dot work, highlighting the features of the land in which her mother the late Minnie Pwerle once lived and loved.
Barbara Weir was born at Bundy River Station, Utopia. Her country is Atnwengerrrp and her language is Anmatyerre and Alyawarr. At the age of nine, Barbara became one of the Stolen Generation, taken by the Native Welfare department. She was fostered out to various families in Alice Springs, Victoria, and Darwin. During these years she lost her family but vowed to return and re-claim her heritage. In the late 1960s she returned to Utopia with her children, relearnt the languages and her culture, and re-established contact with all her family including her mother Minnie Pwerle and her aunt, the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye.
The region depicted is called Atnwengerrp, the homeland of the artist's grandfather. The background depicts campsites and traces the route taken by her people as they trekked across country. The intricate dot work highlights the features of the land in which her mother once lived.
ARTIST PROFILE
