Collection: Bernadine Johnson Kemarre

Artist: Bernadine Johnson Kemarre
Born: 1974
Region: Utopia
Language: Anmatyerre

Bernadine Johnson was born in 1974 in Utopia, northeast of Alice Springs.

In her paintings, she incorporates traditional iconography and realistic elements. The themes are primarily bush medicines, yam dreaming and body painting. As a bush woman, she is familiar with her land and its abundance of bush tucker species, medicine plants and native fauna. She has been developing her style over the last few years and has really diversified her repertoire. These are the stories inherited by her, along with important women’s stories, which form the basis of her paintings.

Bernadine is married to Stephen Martin Pitjara, the brother of well-known artist Anna Price Pitjara. Bernadine spends the majority of her time in Alice Springs with her husband and two children.

Bush Medicine Leaves are collected by the women and are used in a variety of different ways. They can be boiled in water and the liquid used as a drinking medicine. This medicine can ease stomach ache. The Leaves can also be crushed and mixed with Kangaroo Fat to create a salve that is applied to burns and abrasions on the skin.

Bernadine is regarded as a highly collectable artist. Her work is held in private collections around the world. Corroboree dream art have been associated with Bernadine for many years, her works are among our most loved collections.