Description
Aboriginal artist, Nora Petyarre from the Anmatyerr people in the Central Desert region is a long-time master of the ‘tjanting’ (tulis) batik technique. Her characteristic style of working is to combine ‘tjanting’ work with hand-painted motifs focusing around bush tucker themes and the flora and fauna of the outback.
Utopia batik is famous for its gutsy, spontaneous style. The style is fluidly dictated by mark marking, with hot wax dripped from a charged brush (or ‘tjanting’) around a communal wax pot. The traditional technique of the ‘tjap’ requires a fixed studio arrangement with a single artist at a special printing table. The Utopia artists' natural disposition more readily favours the batik application method of the communal wax pot, creating movement and spontaneity.
History
Utopia Collection TM and National Textile Collection,
Tamworth Regional Gallery.
Significance
Provenance: Purchased directly from the artists of Utopia Batik Pty Ltd (Anmatyerre, Ngwarlalemenya Utopia Station NT) from the 13th Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial in 1998.