Barbara WEIR
Born in c 1945
Region: Utopia
State: Northern Territory
Language: Ammatyerre and Alyawarr
Barbara Weir was born on Bundy River Station in the area of Utopia - Aboriginal Art Region of Central Australia. Barbara Weir's mother is the late famous Aboriginal Artist Minnie Pwerle. Barbara's father was the Irish station owner, Jack Weir. Barbara was taken from her family and fostered out as one of the 'Stolen Generation' but, in the 1960's Barbara returned to Utopia and stayed with her aunt Emily Kame Kngwarreye.
Barbara's career as an artist was inspired by the dynamic community of artists at Utopia and the work of her adopted grandmother Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Emily's work had a profound impact on her and in the early 1990's she began seriously to explore her artistic talents. Highly experimental in her approach, she tried many mediums and in 1994 went to Indonesia with other artists to explore the art of batik. This gave her new insights into her own process and she returned full of ideas on how to develop her own style.
Barbara is a highly talented, inventive, creative, energetic and hardworking artist, who paints in a number of different styles and who pushes her own artistic boundaries in doing so. Because of this, her important part in the Utopian community, her family connections and her difficult life experiences at the hands of the white administration of the day, she is a highly collectible artist, and one who continues to grow in stature at a steady rate.
Barbara has exhibited widely throughout Australia and overseas. Her works are included in numerous collections including the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; Art Gallery of Queensland, Brisbane; Artbank, Sydney; Queensland College of Art, Griffith University;Ebes Collection-Workum, The Netherlands; University of Adelaide, Adelaide; and the AMP Collection.