Josie Petrick Kemarre was born c.1953 at Santa Teresa Mission and commenced painting about 1990. Since that time she has achieved a high level of sophistication in the interpretation of traditional women’s stories. Using minimal Aboriginal iconography, she usually depicts the gathering of bush food in an interesting modern interpretation of the abundance of bush fruits.
She has always lived a semi-traditional lifestyle, spending her early years foraging - searching for bush foods. This was the way of life for Central Desert families throughout the generations, this was their formal education, what living each day was all about - just as her mother had done, her mother’s mother and her grandmother’s mother before that.

Josie's first job was working at the Santa Teresa mission as a chef, with memories of makin' em all soup. She met her husband Robin there and after her bush marriage moved with him to an area of Utopia called Mt Swan. Together they have 7 children 3 girls and 4 boys. She has also grown up her younger sister’s son.

Josie’s earlier works are quite typical of Utopia Art, much line work depicting Body paint designs and many traditional symbols seen in Central Desert Dot paintings. Her most recent collection titled Bush Tucker & Wild Flower Dreaming portrays the abundance of colours found within the landscape of the Central Desert.

Josie creates visual harmony within her dotted constructions, capturing the essence of the Utopian landscape as she experiences it in desert life. Her work is a fine example of the development of Central Desert dot painting from traditional and ‘tight’ constructions to a fusion of abstracted forms revealing a spiritual and cultural celebration.
Josie has a special affinity with colour which make her works glow. As humans we all react to colour, varying hues stir up emotions inside of us that we subconsciously relate to. Her colour choice and combinations express a powerful vision - merging complementary and conflicting tones to create a kaleidoscope of joy. Her love of being an artist is evident in the energetic canvases produced and her incredible ability to touch each one of us in a special kind of way. Through her work she communicates simplicity and innocence, qualities which make Josie Petrick Kemarre an artist of great talent and potential.
Exhibitions:

1995 Aboriginal Desert Art
1995 Jinta Desert Art Sydney
1996 Perth December
1996 Melbourne October
1999 “Dotted Design”Embassy of Australia, Washington DC.;
Old Treasury Building, Melbourne
1999 Embassy of Australia, New York City
1999 “Out of Australia” Lui Hai-Su National Art Museum, Shanghai, China
1999 United Nations, New York City
2002, 2003, 2005 redrock gallery, Melbourne

Selected Collections:

Aboriginal Desert Art Gallery, Alice Springs
Aboriginal Art Galleries of Australia, Melbourne,
Artbank
Charles Sturt University Collection
Jinta Desert Art Sydney
Mem Aziz Collection, Melbourne

Aboriginal Art Galleries of Australia, Jinta Desert Art Gallery and Aboriginal Desert Art Gallery in association with Fresco Australia. Indigenous Art of the Dreamtime 2 August – 2 September 1999.

Janusz B. Kreczmanski and Margo Birnberg, Aboriginal Artists, Dictionary of Biography. J.B. Publishing. Australia. 2004.

 

 

 

 

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