Betty Club Mpetyane
Betty Club Mpetyane was born out bush in the lands surrounding Utopia in Central Australia, approx 2 hours north east of Alice Springs in Central Australia. Her mother, Minnie Pwerle and sister, Barbara Weir, are both acclaimed Indigenous artists. Her husband was Lena Pula’s son, Paddy Club.
As young girls, Betty and her sisters grew up watching the art movement develop in and around Utopia. It was this exposure to art that provided the direction for Betty and her sisters to take up painting themselves.
Betty Club Mpetyane first began painting with the group of artists that were part of the batik project. During this time, she travelled around Australia with many of the batik artists. Following the death of her mother, Betty has increased in profile and now portrays her mother’s stories in her paintings.
The smaller circles represent the bush melons seeds, the melon comes from a small bush around a metre in height and has a sweet, pleasant taste. The concentric circles portray “Ntgant” or soakage sites where water collects during periods of rain. The small dots are the melon seeds, that regenerate during rain.
“Awelye” or body painting designs also feature in Betty's paintings. This iconography is painted primarily across the women’s upper torso for ceremonial purposes.
'MONOCHROME' GROUP EXHIBITION (MAY 2022)
