Jillian Davey b. 1954

  • Artist ,
  • Artist (Painter)
Pitjantjatjara artist whose early experiments at Ernabella school led her to explore a broad media of batik, watercolour and later acrylic on canvas. She designed a poster for the South Australian Electoral Commission and her work is widely exhibited.
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Jillian Davey was born 'in the bush’ in 1954 at Wina, by a rockhole south-west of Kata Tjuta (the Olgas), near her father and grandfather’s country. Both parents were Pitjantjatjara speakers. Her mother’s country is closer to Ernabella, and the family moved to the mission, which had been established in 1936. Jillian grew up at the Ernabella mission and attended Ernabella school. It was at the school that Jillian first started drawing with crayons. Her designs were very much based on what by that time were already identifiable as 'Ernabella shapes’, 'doodlings’ which have their origin in the drawings of the older women. After school, Jillian began painting and weaving with Ernabella Arts Inc. and in 1975 went to Indonesia to study batik. However, her preferred medium continued to be watercolours, and later, acrylics. Jillian’s work has been exhibited widely and in 1985 she designed the South Australian Electoral Commission poster. In 1988 she began exploring the rich subject matter of Tjukurrpa (the Dreaming) with acrylics on canvas. Her painting of Kutungu – her father’s country – was selected for the Tandanya Calendar Collection of 1990. Jillian lives at Ernabella with her family. She has one daughter, Rita.

Writers:
Johnson, Vivien
Date written:
1994
Last updated:
2011

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