Career
In 1999, the Australian magazine Art Collector called her "one of our most collectable indigenous artists". As of 2014, her overall career rank on the Australian Indigenous Art Market was 13. She traveled to Ireland, England and India in 1990 as part of the Utopia – A picture story exhibition.
She held her first solo exhibition in 1991.
She is represented in Australian galleries such as the National Gallery of Australia. She is the niece of Emily Kngwarreye and the younger sister of Kathleen Petyarre, who are also artists.
Petyarre lived at the Utopia community after 1977, where she started batik painting, exhibiting in shows around Australia for ten years. She began work on the "Summer Project" in 1989 which involved translating the batik paintings onto canvas.
She paints an original subject titled Leaves as well as Body Paint Designs and several Dreamtime stories such as Pencil Yam, Bean, Emu and Mountain Devil Lizard and Small Brown Grass.
Her paintings – monochromatic or multi-colored - have well defined segments filled with curved lines. Her style is known for its abstract fields and bright colors. Her work is represented in such collections as:
The National Gallery of Australia
The Art Gallery of New South Wales
Allen, Allen and Hemsley
Victorian Museum
Museums and Art Gallery of the Northern Territories
Powerhouse Museum
Westpac Collection, New York
Gold Coast City Art Gallery
The Holmes a’ Court Collection
Art Gallery of Ballarat.
