Kate Pitjara b. 1980

Kate Pitjara (also spelled Petyarre) grew up in the expansive Indigenous homelands region of Utopia, some 240km north-east of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). Kate is the daughter of highly regarded artist Polly Ngale, and follows in her footsteps artistically, depicting the Dreamings of the anwekety (bush plum or conkerberry) and kame (pencil yam) that have been passed down to her. Kate's sister, Bessie Pitjara, is also a talented artist who paints this story.

Anwekety is the Anmatyerre word for the conkerberry or bush plum, a berry that is favoured by Indigenous people of the Central and Western desert regions for its sweet taste and nutritional value. Kate typically paints the Anwekety story from Ahalpere country, telling of the winds that blew from all directions, scattering the seeds all over the ancestral lands. The Dreaming story tells of the rituals of sowing and harvesting – the locations where the shrubs flourish, and the paths walked by women to collect the treasured tucker. The dotting technique employed by Kate can also represent the berries at various stages of ripening.

Using a brush to apply heavy layers of paint, Kate creates subtle visual shifts that lend the canvas a meditative quality. This technique has been compared to the 19^th century Impressionists.