IMAGE	CAPTION	SELLING PRICE
	Gracie Morton Apwerl Bush Plum Dreaming 2000 acrylic on linen 102 x 155 cm w gma001	S$5,000

Gracie was born in 1956 in the Utopia region of Central Australia. Gracie is of the Eastern Amatyerre group and her country is Alhalkere and the daughter of Myrtle Petyarre. Utopia is a community approximately 170 miles/230 kms northeast of Alice Springs, NT. She has always lived a traditional lifestyle, her education involved living and surviving in a desert environment, collecting bush foods and living off the land. Gracie still lives in the Utopia region but also occasionally spends time in Alice Springs with one of her two daughters.

Gracie gained recognition as an artist working in the medium of batik, exhibiting her work with the Utopia women in Australia and overseas. Funded under government arts programs, the Utopia Women created a major work entitled "A picture story". This was later acquired by the Holms a Court collection and exhibited at Tandanya in Adelaide in 1989. They travelled to the UK, Ireland, India and Europe before returning to Australia.

In 1988, along with other Utopia artists, Gracie made the transition from batik into the acrylics on canvas. Open to outside influence, Gracie’s style evolved into the highly detailed spectre as it presently appears. Her work now is quite brilliant, comprised of laborious fine dots in intricate patterns, all associated with stories of her Dreamtimes. These detailed patterns provide an effective three-dimensional visual feeling. Her most commonly depicted subject is the bush plum known to the Alyawarre people as Arnwekety. Her more recent etching work combines the techniques she acquired in both batik and canvas.

Gracie’s work has been exhibited throughout Australia and in many places around the world, particularly in Western Europe and in North America. Her works are highly sought after in many Australian Galleries.

Collections
· The Robert Holmes a Court Collection, WA, Australia depicted in a book entitled Utopia – A Picture Story
· Slaughter and May International Law, London, UK
Batik
· The Robert Holmes a Court Collection, WA, Australia depicted in a book entitled Utopia – A Picture Story

Solo Exhibitions
1985 Araluen Centre for the Arts, Alice Springs, Australia
1986 Araluen Centre for the Arts, Alice Springs, Australia
1989 Utopia Women’s Paintings. The First Works on Canvas. A Summer Project
1988-89, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney, Australia
1989-1991 Utopia - A Picture Story, (Travelling Exhibition) Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide, Australia; The Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Ireland; Meat Market Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
1991 8th National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin, Australia
1991 Araluen Centre for the Arts, Alice Springs, Australia
1992 Araluen Centre for the Arts, Alice Springs, Australia
1993 Araluen Centre for the Arts, Alice Springs, Australia
1994 Araluen Centre for the Arts, Alice Springs, Australia
1996 Araluen Centre for the Arts, Alice Springs, Australia
1998 The Art of Utopia and Balgo Hills, Aboriginal Art Gallery Bähr, Speyer, Germany
1998 Culture Store, Art Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
1998 Dreamings, Spazio Pitti Art, Florence, Italy
1999 Alliance Francaise in Canberra and French Embassy in Canberra, Australia
1999 Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs, Australia
1999 Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs, Australia
1999 My Country - Journey of our Ancestors, Ancient Earth Indigenous Art, Cairns, Australia
2000 Mosquito Bore - The Art of the Minimalist, Ancient Earth Indigenous Art, Cairns, Australia
2000 Ancient Earth Indigenous Art, Cairns, Australia Group Exhibitions
2001 Alliance Francaise , Canberra and French Embassy in Canberra, Australia
2001-2002 Recounting the Essence of Life. Art from Australia, Germany (In cooperation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Bähr, Speyer