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Barbara Weir

Atwengerrp, Utopia Region

Language Group: Alyawarr and Anmatyerre
Country: Atnwengerrp, Utopia Region
Subjects: Grass Seed, My Mother’s Country, Bush Berry, Creation of My Mother’s Country, Countryside, Beginning of the Creation

Collections:
Mbantua Gallery Permanent Collection, Alice Springs
Art Gallery of South Australia, SA
Queensland College of Art, Griffith University
Ebes Collection, The Netherlands
AMP Collection

Barbara Florence Weir was born in 1945 at what was formerly known as Bundy River Station in the region of Utopia, North East of Alice Springs; her mother the late Minnie Pwerle, renowned Utopia and Australian artist, and her father an Irish station owner Jack Weir.

Being of mixed heritage Barbara was hidden from welfare patrol from the age of two and ‘grown up’ by her Aunty, the most famed female Aboriginal artist of all time, the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye. At the age of nine Barbara was taken away from her family by welfare while collecting water at Utopia Station, now known as Utopia Homestead. She is one of the people known as the “stolen generation”. Barbara was taken to Bungalow (now known as the Telegraph Station) to get cleaned up, then taken to St Mary’s Home in Alice Springs. She was later moved to various children’s homes around Australia before eventually returning to Darwin. During these years she was forced to speak English and forget her native tongue, and was told that her mother was dead. Though she lost contact with her family she was determined to return to them, to show she was alive and reclaim her heritage.

In the late 1960’s Barbara was fortunate to find her family and returned to Utopia, the land of her birth, with her three children. The reunion was a happy one, but it was marred by the fact that Barbara was unable to communicate with the family, as she did not speak the language. Over the course of the next two and a half decades, Barbara had three more children and mastered both the Anmatyerre and Alyawarr languages and is one of the few people to do so from scratch.

On returning to her home and her unique relationship with Emily Kame Kngwarreye (who was then a well known batik artist) Barbara became interested in painting, and showed a flair and talent for the art. In 1994, Barbara and other Aboriginal women traveled to Indonesia to learn more about the art of batik. The Utopia women were well known for their beautiful batiks as this contributed to the Aboriginal community buying back the region of Utopia in 1974, and making it their own.

Barbara returned from Indonesia full of ideas for developing her own creative style. In 1996 Barbara travelled to Switzerland and Paris at the request of a gallery owner who commissioned some of Barbara’s work. The collection was a sellout.

In 1996, after the death of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Barbara concentrated on developing her skill as an artist and soon attracted the attention of collectors by producing works that were contemporary in style, including her now renowned "Grass Seed" paintings.

Inspired by a small grass found in Utopia called Lyaw, Munyeroo or Pigsweed, Barbara's “Grass Seed” paintings consist of a series of small brush strokes that overlap and weave to create a swaying effect. It is an energetic style with long swaying brush storkes exclusive to Barbara.

“My Mother’s Country”, another well known style, is a series of works testament to her skill as a patient and dedicated artist. Completely contrasting to the "Grass Seed", these works are an intricate formation of dots, with various background shapes representing different aspects of her country. This background can be very subtle or quite dramatic in appearance depending on the main theme, but this series of works illustrates Barbara’s knowledge and respect for her country.

Barbara continues to dabble with the traditional paint materials of natural ochres found in Central Australia in many of her artworks as well - quite often forming a series of 'ochre works' representing the creation time. The ochres are crushed and mixed with binders and acrylics, or sometimes oil paints, before being applied to the linen. Barbara feels most at home creatively with these works, where she can be free to intuitively throw the ochre mix in any which way onto the linen, creating a masterpiece that can be likened to America's Jackson Pollock.

Other styles: Barbara's limited "Countryside" paintings depict similar subjects to "My Mother's Country" with subtle differences in colour and dot work. "Beginning of the Creation" is similar to the "Creation of My Mother's Country", but the most notable difference is Barbara leaves her handprints in the paint to signify a more 'hands on' approach of the building blocks of her ancestors.

In January 2009, Barbara was listed in the top 50 of Australia's most collectable artists in the Australian Art Collector, alongside Emily Kame Kngwarreye and a handful of other indigenous artists.