Bio & Information
Charmaine Pwerle (Australian Aboriginal 1975)
Pwerle is recognised as a leading Australian indigenous artist from the younger generation of Anmatyerre artists in the Utopia region of the Northern Territory.
Pwerle pedigree comes from a family of well-listed and respected artists, including her mother Barbara Weir and grandmother Minnie Pwerle.
Pwerle paints the same stories “Women’s Ceremony” as her grandmother Minnie Pwerle; she has also studied under and been associated with some of the greatest indigenous artists at Utopia Station, including Gloria Petyarre and Australia’s finest Indigenous artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye.
Her “Awelye” has all the characteristics of her family dreaming and continues her exploration of the deeper meaning of her dreaming passed to her by her grandmother and mother. Pwerle is a third-generation artist, each generation taking the rite of passage to receive the sacred knowledge.
Along with her well-established mother, Pwerle is one of the most sought-after Indigenous artists living and working today, her works have been acquired by major institutions such as the NGV:
The Women’s Ceremony iconography describes and passes on women’s essential cultural roles, including mythology, law, social and moral customs, rites, and ceremonies.
Before the ceremony, the women would paint each other’s br…
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