Aileen Mbitjana

I (Sabine Haider, Director Central Art) first met Aileen in 2008 when I was introduced to her by her sister, Betty Mbitjana. Aileen is a friendly but shy woman until we sat down she shared with me her Dreaming interpretation in her artwork. Aileen is not a career artist; rather she enjoys painting artworks as a cultural activity and given her parents talents and that many women from Utopia, painting Dreamings onto canvas is a very common practice. I would consider Aileen to be a hobbyist painter.

Born in the 1940’s Aileen grew up on Utopia Station and had a childhood filled with traditional teachings by her elders. She learnt how to hunt Kangaroo and Goanna and find bush banana, tomato, wild bush potato, and how and where to dig for honey ants. Aileen is the oldest child to the famous Utopian artist, Minnie Pwerle and her father is Jim Ngala; also an artist. Both of Aileen’s parents are now deceased. Aileen has five brothers and sisters and is now married with children of her own. She is a traditional woman and continues to reside in her homeland with her family.

In the 1970’s Aileen was also involved in the Batik program, where the women of Utopia painted their traditional designs onto silk fabric. This instigated several community programs to promote the residents of Utopia to learn to paint with modern mediums such as acrylics and canvas. Like many others from Utopia, Aileen did not experiment with canvas, linen and acrylic paints until the 1980’s.

Aileen’s Dreaming is that of the Bush Plum, a very prominent Aboriginal Dreaming from the Utopia region. Aileen inherited this Dreaming from her father’s side and this comes from Ahalpere country in Central Australia.

If considering purchasing one of Aileen’s artworks it should be because you like the artwork and are able to connect with it, embracing the Dreaming that Aileen is sharing.