About Lena Pwerle
Lena Kngwarreye, the late Left Hand Sam’s wife, has five children, one of which is artist Nora Petyarre. Lena was raised in Utopia Homestead, about 240 kilometers north of Alice Springs, with her siblings Ray Loy, Cowboy Loy, and Louie Pwerle. Lena has also lived in various parts of the Utopia Territory, most notably Ngkwarlerlaneme in the region’s northern reaches, where she lived for many years with her husband and children.
Over the years, Lena has maintained and evolved a number of distinct styles. To begin with, a fine circular pattern of dots in some of Lena’s early pieces reflects the Soakages (or waterholes) that dot her land. Her Awelye (women’s ritual body paint designs) are untidy arced motifs. Her Anwekety (conkerberry) paintings are composed of short repetitive linear work emphasized with small dots. Traditional colors of ochre reds, tawny yellows, and soft whites, which are native to her homeland of Ahalpere, endow her early Soakage and Awelye paintings with simplicity, while brilliant color combinations abound in her Anwekety paintings and later Soakage pieces.
Lena loves to paint and is often urging her family members to do so as well. Lena is a senior executive at Utopia and serves on a number of government bodies, including the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (which safeguards holy places in the Northern Territory) and the Urapuntja Council, which oversees the town. Lena’s demeanor shows this enormous responsibility while still oozing good humor and good disposition.