Raelene Williams b. circa 1964

Raelene is a proud Arrernte woman who lives and works in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) in the Northern Territory. Raelene’s sister, Maureen Williams, is also a renowned artist who lives in Coober Pedy, South Australia, where Raelene also spends a lot of time and has her work represented in the galleries there. 

Raelene has a bold, bright style of painting that matches her jovial personality. She often paints Damper Seeds, depicting the native grass that grows around waterholes and soakages. The tiny grass seeds are collected by women and ground into a flour using a grinding stone to make damper, a bread-like tucker. She also paints Whirly Winds, unpredictable swirling gusts of rapidly rotating air, collecting all manner of debris in its path, as well as bush seeds that are dispersed across the country. These seeds find new ground and come into ephemeral bloom after desert rains. 

Raelene typically works in reduced palettes, creating striking works with high contrast. She uses the repetition of a single dot to represent various flora, food sources and geological aspects of her ancestral country.