GLORIA PETYARRE - CEREMONIAL BODY PAINTING (TRIPTYCH)
GLORIA PETYARRE
CEREMONIAL BODY PAINTING (TRIPTYCH), 1996
91 x 60 cm each panel (192 x 97 cm total framed)
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Canvas
PROVENANCE
Utopia, NT
Delmore Gallery, NTPirra Fine Arts, VICPrivate Collection, VIC Cooee Art, NSW
STORY
This painting reflects the tradition arising from Awelye, a term that not only describes womenā€™s ceremonial body painting but also the wider concept of ā€�womenā€™s businessā€™. During such ceremonies, women would take it in turn painting each others bodies with natural earth pigments. The three paintings depict aspects of the ceremony and some designs associated. The translation to canvas offering a further aesthetic appreciation of an art tradition grown from one of the worlds oldest living cultures.
