Collection: Joy Purvis Petyarre

Born: 1962
Region: Utopia
Skin name: Pitjara
Language: Anmatyerre

Joy Purvis Petyarre was born around 1962 is the sister of the very renown artist Anna Petyarre An emerging artist in the Utopia region, she began painting in the early 1980s. A versatile and creative artist Joy has an unique and beautiful style. Her work is becoming more collectible as she develops her reputation as one of Utopia’s rising talents. She resides at Mulga Bore Utopia Australian Northern Territory approximately 220 km from Alice Springs.

Joy primarily paints Yam Seed Dreaming, her works are colourful and intricate expressions of the songs and stories associated with her plant totem, the Bush Yam, and its seeds. The Bush Yam has been a staple food and water source for the Anmatyerre people for countless years, and the seeds that form and scatter from the plant are ground up to make flour for damper.