Spear Straightening and Utnea (Carpet Snake) Dreaming

Lindsay Bird Mpetyane

Born: c. 1942 Language Group: Eastern Anmatyerre Country: Ilkawerne , Utopia Region, North East of Alice Springs Medium: Acrylic on Canvas and Linen, Batik on Silk Subjects: Tyankern (Mulga Berries), Ntang Artety (Mulga Seed), Ahakeye (Bush Plum), Utnea (Carpet Snake), Arekwarr (Wild Pigeon), Little Wallaby, Witchetty grub, Arrkernk (Bloodwood Seed), Elcudjera (Prickle), Arlkeny (Men's Body Paint), Inpernp (Yellow Throated Bird), Spear Straightening

One of few male Utopia artists (although under Lindsay's instruction there are more than previous years), Lindsay is an important tribal leader of his country, Ilkawerne, in the Utopia District which is North East of Alice Springs. Married to Mavis Petyarre, they have three daughters, Rosie, Jessie and Karen Bird Ngale.

As an important tribal leader of his country, Lindsay must choose a successor to continue to teach new generations about the lore's and stories of his culture. Though light hearted and full of good humour he acknowledges the dim possibilities of his people eventually losing their interest in their rich culture and history. Painting for Lindsay is not only a passion, but a sincere desire to continue his legacy of teachings and encourage the growth and interest of the Ilkawerne youngsters.

After the Utopia batik movement of which Lindsay was the only male to participate in, in 1987 Lindsay started painting with a number of women and a handful of men including Louie Pwerle, Gloria Petyarre and Ada Bird. His paintings are both iconic and linear and close to his spirit. He uses the traditional symbols to tell his stories on canvas, including concentric circles which represent the significant 'place' of the story (for example the Bush Plum tree) or a sacred part of the men's story. Lindsay also uses his four traditional colours, consisting of the two ochres (yellow and red), black and white, each with specific meaning. He is also known for under painting the canvas usually in grey. Black, used in most Utopia art backgrounds, is a symbolic colour to Lindsay, where grey is a neutral colour for him touse. This makes his paintings quite unique.

Over the years, Lindsay has been an amazing source of information to Mbantua, enabling the traditions of his culture to be written down and passed on to art lovers throughout the world. Lindsay's enthusiasm for teaching about culture has also been captured on DVD, by Mbantua Media Department, with Lindsay's permission. The DVD, now available for purchase, was presented as a gift to HRH Prince of Wales on his Royal Australian Tour in 2005.

Collections

Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth

The Holmes á Court Collection, Perth

Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, USA

Kluge-Ruhe Collection, USA

Mbantua Gallery Permanent Collection, Alice Springs

Museum of Victoria, Melbourne

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Parliament House – Art Collections, Canberra

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane

Solo Exhibitions

Group Exhibitions

Further References