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1954
Language Group:Anmatyerre
Country:Ngkwarlerlaneme and Arnkawenyerr, Utopia Region, North East of Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Medium:Acrylic on Canvas and Linen, Wood Carving
Subjects:Yerrampe (Honey Ant) Dreaming, Country, Awelye (Women's Ceremony), Tharrkarr (Sweet Honey Grevillea), Ceremonial Man
Doreen's mother was Lena Pwerle (dec) and her father, Left Hand Sam (1934-2002). She is married to Harold Payne Mpetyane and they have six children: Bronwyn, Violet, Richard, Johnny, Jimmy, Laura. All have painted or produced wood sculptures for Mbantua Gallery.
Doreen's paintings can comprise of colourful patterns of tiny dots when describing her country or the Yerrampe (Honey Ant) Story, or strong, bold, linear work when illustrating Awelye (Women's Ceremonial Body Paint Design). Her paintings always associate with the stories from her father's country, Ngkwarlerlaneme, North West of the Utopia Region.
Doreen's first work for Mbantua Gallery was wooden sculptures of birds, lizards and human figures painted up for ceremony, all of which involved a lot of skill - working the hard wood with tomahawk, rasp and file, then scraping the edges with broken glass to smooth the rough edges.
Doreen paints the Dreaming story of Yerrampe (Honey Ant) which belongs to her country, Ngkwarlerlaneme and Arnkawenyerr.
Yerrampe are a sweet bush food for the aboriginal people, found underneath the ground of certain trees. When digging for Yerrampe, care is taken not to kill or hurt them so they can go on and collect more honey. The sac on the back of the honey ant is pure natural honey.
