Dolores Fraser, also known as Jillawarra, is a Wadjari Nyarlu painter who was born at Big Bell, approximately 700 kilometres north of Perth in Western Australia. She has lived mostly in the Murchison and Eastern Gascoyne Districts of Western Australia; she also lived on the streets of Fremantle for many years and had a beach camp at Fremantle’s South Beach for three years. Her fellow campers (of which there were fourteen) named this part of the beach 'Seagull Camp’. Her father was a Wadjari Yamatji man from Belele Station and her mother was Noongar Yorga from Katanning.
Fraser has painted since childhood and in 2009 she enrolled in the Kidogo Institute’s Certificate III course in Visual Arts and Contemporary Craft, learning new art skills including colour mixing under the tutlage of Joanna Robertson. In June and July of 2009 she participated in a group show of Kidogo student work titled 'Moorditch Mob’ at Kidogo Arthouse. In the same year, Troy Bennell curated her work into the exhibition 'Noongar Country’ at Bunbury Regional Art Galleries. Others in this show include Wendy Hayden, Ronald Williams, Iesha Farmer, Janet Hansen, Sharyn Egan, Sandra Hill, Lance Chad, Troy Bennell, Athol Farmer, Graham 'Swag’ Taylor and Laurel Nannup.
- Writers:
- Allas, Tess
- Date written:
- 2009
- Last updated:
- 2011
