Barbara Skinner b. 1971

 Barbara Skinner is an emerging Alyawarre artist from the expansive Aboriginal homelands region of Utopia, some 240km north-east of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). Utopia is a region of great artistic and cultural significance, a place where many esteemed artists have emerged, such as the Petyarre sisters, Polly Ngale, and the great Emily Kame Kngwarreye. 

Barbara paints the story of water soakage sites that are dispersed through the arid lands of her ancestral country. A soakage, or soak, is a source of water in Australian deserts, called as such because the water generally seeps into the sand and is stored below ground, sometimes as part of an ephemeral river or creek. Knowledge of water sources is essential for survival in the desert, and there is strong spiritual and cultural connection to the tapestry of creek and river beds that intersect the Utopia homelands. The roundels represent the waterholes from a bird’s eye point-of-view, where the vital source bubbles up from the giving land.

Barbara uses repetition of circular forms, but uses brushwork rather than a dotting technique. Barbara's use of vibrant, complimentary colours create an effortlessly contemporary aesthetic.