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1956
Deceased:2022
Language Group:Anmatyerre
Country:Alhalkere, Utopia Region, North East of Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Medium:Acrylic on Canvas and Linen
Subjects:Atnwelarre (Pencil Yam) Leaf, Atnwelarre (Pencil Yam), Atnwelarre (Pencil Yam) and Kame (Seed)
Jeannie was an Anmatyerre woman. Her father was Alhalkere Jack and her mother was Jessie Ngale. She was sister to Greeny Purvis Petyarre (dec), a highly acclaimed artist, and was a well respected elder for her country Alhalkere in Central Australia. Jeannie was the niece of the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye, as her father was her blood brother. Jeannie also had four sisters, three of which are also artists for Mbantua Gallery; Dolly Mills, Gloria Mills and Rosemary Petyarre.
In the early 1980's, when Jeannie was living at Boundary Bore Outstation with her family, husband Henry Long Kemarre and their six children, Jeannie was introduced to the art of Batik. In 1990, her work was chosen to be part of the Robert Holmes à Court Collection, which toured extensively and was featured in their book 'Utopia - A Picture Story'.
The preceding art movement, Works on Canvas, swept through Utopia in the early 1990's. Jeannie took up painting along with her siblings and first painted for Mbantua Gallery in 1995. Her paintings represent Atnwelarre (Pencil Yam) where she often portrays the Yam leaves.
Jeannie's Dreamtime stories come from Alhalkere Country and were passed down to her from her father's side. In March of 2004, Jeannie joined her sister Rosemary and brother Greeny in painting at Mbantua's Field and Research Workshop in Alice Springs.
Atnwelarre, the Pencil Yam, and Kame, the seed of this plant, are the subject of Jeannie's painting. The Atnwelarre is a trailing herb or creeper, sometimes covering large areas, with bright green leaves, yellow flowers and long skinny yams (swollen roots). These are an important food source which can be eaten raw or cooked in hot sand and ashes.
In the Dreamtime there are two parts to the Kame story. Two different seeds were born that created two different species of Pencil Yam, one called Atnwelarre which belongs to Jeannie's country, and the other called Arlatyeye which belongs to Arnumarra country.
