Joycie Morton Petyarre b. 1976

Joycie Morton was born in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) in 1976 and is from Ampilatwatja in the Indigenous homelands region of Utopia in the Northern Territory. Joycie is connected to significant artistic families, the Petyarres and the Pwerles - she is the daughter of artist Betty Morton Pwerle. Joycie’s daughter, Nikita Inkamala, is also a very talented emerging artist.

Characteristic of the Indigenous tradition of oral storytelling and the passing down of cultural knowledge, Joycie says that she learned many aspects of her traditional life from her grandmother – hunting, collecting bush tucker, and the stories, law and Dreamings of her country. She also learned bush medicine from her grandmother, which is the subject of her brightly coloured canvases. Joycie depicts the abundance of her country, the native botanicals that are treasured by Indigenous people of the arid desert regions for their healing qualities. There are many ways that bush medicine can be prepared and used to treat a variety of ailments – Joycie says that the plants she paints are good for making a balm or ointment, or for boiling in water for a medicinal drink or to inhale the healing vapour - Joycie says this alpunga is “good for the soul”.

Joycie paints with a combination of brushwork and a meticulous dotting technique, and is a skilled colourist, often layering and blending different colours into the same stroke, contributing to the vibrancy of her work.