The remarkable career of Gracie Greene, whose unique paintings tell layered narratives of Country and her own story as a senior woman and champion of culture, is the focus of a new exhibition opening next week at Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery.
Gracie Greene: It’s Time! is curated by Lynley Nargoordah, Mangkaja Arts, and Lee Kinsella, Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art at The University of Western Australia, with support from The Berndt Museum as part of Perth Festival 2026.
Gracie Greene (1949 - 2025) experienced enormous social change in her lifetime and developed a visual language that fused her intercultural knowledge of Country as well as Christian narratives.
Greene’s parents moved from Kartamarnti Country, in the Desert, in the 1930s or 40s. She was among the first generation of children raised at the Balgo Mission, on the edges of the Tanami and Great Sandy Deserts, approximately 280km south of Halls Creek in the Kimberley region of WA.
After leaving the mission, Greene had more contact with family members and the senior women who shared the richness of traditional knowledge as well as the influence of the church.
At the mission, biblical narratives – including intergenerational sagas of transgression, death and retribution – were often told in Kukatja and aligned with Desert creation stories featuring transformations between animal, human, spirit, geographical and astronomical forms, such as constellations.
As she refined her painting practice throughout the 1980s, Greene developed a distinct visual style that fulfilled her responsibility to impart knowledge she gained from her mission upbringing and cultural knowledge of Country.
Greene also acted as an advocate and cultural broker for other female artists in Balgo, including negotiating permission for women to incorporate dots in their paintings.
By the mid to late-1980s, Greene was recognised as an important artist and teacher within the community. She was a member of the steering group which established the new Culture Centre at Balgo, which was the foundation upon which Warlayirti Artists Aboriginal Corporation was established in 1987.
Gracie Greene: It’s Time! celebrates Greene and her innovative style of combining lively figuration within finely dotted topographies showing stories that unfold dynamically across the canvas.
The exhibition opens on Friday 13 February, from 6pm to 8pm and runs until April 4. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 4pm and admission is free. For more information or to register for the opening night visit the LWAG website.
Greene’s daughter, Edith, who is also an artist, will travel from Fitzroy Crossing with family to participate in public Gallery talks on February 14.
WARNING: Aboriginal people are warned that this exhibition will include the names and images of people who have died.
Images above: Goanna Dreaming, 1999, acrylic paint on canvas, 120 x 80 cm, Berndt Museum, UWA, [2001/0049] Courtesy the estate of the artist and Mankaja Arts. Liturwarti, 2023, acrylic paint on canvas, 120 x 120cm. Courtesy the estate of the artist and Mankaja Arts. Throwing Bush Tomato, 2022, acrylic paint on canvas, 89.5 x 119.5 cm, Courtesy the estate of the artist and Mankaja Arts