Dora Mbitjana

Title: Alweye (Women’s body paint design)

Size: 40cm x 46cm

Dora Mbitjana comes from a family group and community which has produced some of the most influential Aboriginal artists of our time. Dora is the youngest daughter of the great Aboriginal artist, Minnie Pwerle, whose paintings are now held in museums and exhibited in galleries worldwide. Dora’s mother Minnie, along with other artists like Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Gloria Petyarre were trailblazers that aesthetically contemporised our understanding of Aboriginal art, while drawing deeply on their ancient cultural practices. Dora and her famed sister, Betty Mbitjana, have also taken to painting Minnie’s signature style of the women’s body paint designs. These are intricate patterns rooted in the ancient creation stories (Dreamings), traditionally made by mixing coloured ochre pigments and animal fats. Dora is an emerging artist, and is also known to paint the Bush Plum Dreaming style that Utopian artists are well-known for. Dora has four children, two daughters and two sons.
LANGUAGE: ANMATYERRE/ALYAWARRE
REGION: UTOPIA, N.T.
BORN: 1965.