CHLOE NGWARRAYE MORTON
Chloe Ngwarraye Morton (b. 1984)
View of Country, 2023
76 x 61cm. Acrylic on canvas
ARTIST
Chloe was born in 1984, at Ammaroo Station in the Northern Territory. Her father was a stockman on Ammaroo and as a child Chloe would watch him round up cattle and work the with horses. She now live in Ampilatwatja with her six children.
Chloe began painting at Artists of Ampilatwatja in 2010 and where she learnt painting from her mother Milly Kemarre Morton. Chloe’s paintings depict the landscape of her mother’s country.
“We would visit my mother’s country sometimes to collect bushtucker and go hunting. We would go camping out and sleep under the stars.”
ART
The community of Ampilatwatja made a conscious decision not to paint ‘altyerr’ dreaming stories, the artists paint their country where those stories sit.
These paintings shows the layered landscape of Alyawarr, Central Australia. Knowing your country is an important part of living in a remote community like Ampilatwatja. Knowing when and where to go hunting and gathering, knowing where there is ‘soakage’ (where you can dig for water), travelling with family for ceremonies, and maintaining a connection with the land.