Peterson, Greg - Bridget McDonnell Gallery

Greg Peterson

I was born in Port Hedland in 1963. My grandfather came from Wirnpa, his main jila [permanent  waterhole] in the Great Sandy Desert where he lived with his family. Wirnpa was the main
waterhole and meeting place for the old people in the desert. My ancestors moved around hunting
between waterholes from Wirnpa to country near the Canning Stock Route.

I paint two main areas - Warla (Percival Lakes) right up to Kukapanu area (Canning Stock route) - my grandmother and grandfather’s country. In 2006, I visited Well 39 [Kukapanu] area for the first time.
I was told about my ancestors and where they came from. In 2009, I went to Wirnpa to see the place
and collect stories. I talked to my last remaining grandmother, aunty and uncle who told me
about how they were living in the desert, hunting, gathering food and having cermeonies for many
generations. That is how I was given permission from the old people to paint that country.
Wirnpa is important to us because it is a main waterhole. Wirnpa is for everyone really, not only us.

There are a lot of family out there that belong to Wirnpa. There is a Dreamtime snake that lives right there in that jila. He lives there today. He has a family that live in the waterholes along the  lake at Wirnpa and they are called Kaliwarra.

I started painting in 2008 at Mangkaja Art Centre and had my first exhibition in 2009 at Cool Art  Gallery in Queensland.