Betty Muffler is an Aboriginal Australian artist and ngangkari (healer). She is a senior artist at Iwantja Arts, in Indulkana in Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY Lands), South Australia, known for a series of works on large linen canvases called Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country).
Early life
Muffler was born near Watarru, South Australia, in 1944, of the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara peoples. She refers to a place called Yalungu, south of Waturru, as her land, where emus visit a waterhole. She grew up at the Ernabella Mission in Pukatja in the aftermath of the British nuclear tests at Maralinga and Operation Totem at Emu Field in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Seeing the deaths and dislocation caused by the tests has inspired much of her artwork, and she has expressed healing as a recurrent theme in her work.
Artistic career
Muffler only started to paint late in life, joining the artists at Iwantja Arts in Indulkana. She works in several mediums, notably painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture. Her personal tjukurpa (a complex concept, often translated as The Dreaming) is the emu, but her artwork also embodies other elements of her culture's tjukurpa. Many of her paintings are identically titled, Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country), and use acrylic paint on linen. They all depict her Country, and a connection to her songlines.
She attended law and culture events held by the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council, where she learnt to weave tjanpi baskets, subsequently making large baskets for Tjanpi Desert Weavers.
Muffler won "Best emerging artist" at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (aka NATSIAA awards) in 2017, with Ngangkaṟi Ngura (Healing Country).
Nici Cumpston, curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art and artistic director of the Tarnanthi exhibitions at the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) in Adelaide, regards Muffler's "meteoric rise" as well-deserved, and included Muffler's work in the 2020 Open Hands exhibition, which was dedicated to the work of senior women artists in remote communities.
Muffler's work was featured on the cover of the September 2020 issue of Vogue Australia, in the form of specially-commissioned work, another iteration of Ngangkaṟi Ngura (Healing Country). The work was commissioned in collaboration with the National Gallery of Australia, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, as part of a global campaign called "Vogue Hope". The work featured on Vogue was hung in the Know My Name exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, having been gifted to the gallery by Vogue Australia.
Healing practice
Her traditional healing, or ngangkari, practice was taught to her by her aunties on her father's side of the family, and she uses her healing talents to work with the NPY Women’s Council and other medical practitioners on the APY Lands. She has also worked in hospitals in Adelaide, Coober Pedy, Whyalla and Alice Springs, helping to heal the spirits of anangu. She says that she doesn't always need to travel physically to the person, because her eagle spirit can fly across the desert looking for sick people. Her renown as a healer caused high demand for her work during the COVID-19 pandemic, to help heal anxiety in the APY Lands.
Other roles
Muffler is a director for Iwantja Arts, and a cultural advisor to the APY Collective, which comprises ten Indigenous-owned artistic enterprises.
Recognition and awards
- 2017: Winner, Telstra Emerging Artist Award at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA)
- 2018: Finalist, John Fries Award
- 2020: Finalist, Wynne Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales
- 2022: Winner, Telstra General Painting Award at NATSIAA
Collections and exhibitions
- Australian War Memorial, Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country) (2017)
- Tarnanthi 2020: Open Hands at the Art Gallery of South Australia, Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country) (2020), a series of paintings
- The National 2021: New Australian Art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Ngangkaṟi Ngura (Healing Country) (2020), with Maringka Burton
Personal life
Muffler married a man from Iwantja, and has two sons and a daughter there as well as family in Coober Pedy, and many grandchildren.
References
- ^ "Ngangkari Ngura (Healing Country)". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- ^ Browning, Daniel (8 July 2021). "How APY artist Betty Muffler uses painting as a means to heal country". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- ^ "Archibald Prize Wynne 2020 finalist: Ngangkari ngura (healing place) by Betty Muffler". Art Gallery of NSW. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- ^ "Betty Muffler". Art Gallery of South Australia. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- ^ Cole, Kelli; Hartshorn, Aidan (5 January 2021). "Betty Muffler: hope and healing". National Gallery of Australia. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
This interview was first published in the Spring 2020 edition of Artonview.
- ^ "Betty Muffler & Maringka Burton Pitjantjatjara/ Yankunytjatjara Country, Indulkana. Pitjantjatjara, Southern Desert region". The National. Art Gallery of New South Wales. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
- ^ "Betty Muffler". Tjanpi Desert Weavers. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
- Kerin, Lindy (9 September 2020). "Stunning artwork by Betty Muffler makes latest Vogue cover". NITV. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
- "Finalists". John Fries Award. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
- Breen, Jacqueline (5 August 2022). "Master Arnhem Land artist Margaret Rarru Garrawurra wins top prize in 2022 NATSIAA's with sweeping woven sail". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
External links
- Behind the scenes with artist Betty Muffler on YouTube 2:11 minutes. Vogue Covers, Vogue Australia, 23 September 2020. Filmed by Closer Productions.