Charmaine Pwerle

Alyawarr Language Group

“Awelye”

90 x 147cm

Ref No: 6162006

The inpiration fro Charmaine's painting comes from the "Awelye" - body paint designs associated with the stories from her grandmother's country Atnwengerrp, in the Utopia region of Central Australia. Women paint their upper body with markings relating to a particular women's dreaming before dancing in a ceremony. These markings or designs are painted on the chest and shoulders using powders ground from ochre, charcoal and ash. It is applied with a flat stick or with fingers in raw linear and curved lines. The circles represent the sites where ceremonies are held.

Charmaine Torres Pwerle was born in 1975 and is the daughter of well known artist Barbara Weir and grandduaghter to the late Minnie Pwerle. Charmain resides in Alice Springs where she lives with her 4 daughters.
Charmaine went to early primary school at Utopia and was then sent to Adelaide fro 3 years to further her education. She completed secondary school at St Phillips college in Alice Springs.After school Charmaine spent several years with her family on their homeland in Utopia before moving back to Adelaide to further her studies. In 1992 Charmaine returned to Utopia and worked for Urapuntja Council as junior administration assistant. During this time she lived her mother Barbara Weir and grandparents Minnie Pwerle and Motorcar Jim at Soakage Bore an outstation of Utopia. It was during this time that she she had the opportunity to immerse herself in her culture and was taught her sacred dreaming storiesthrough participation in women's ceremonies.