The East Kimberley Jaru painter Janet Dreamer (1959–2021) was a unique image maker. Known affectionately as “Dreamer,” the artist grew up in the 1960s at her birthplace of Old Flora Valley in the east Kimberley near Halls Creek. She and her five siblings hunted, fished and travelled with their elders, learning the traditional ways. Later, she moved to Kirkimbie Station as a kitchen worker and had two children, then to Billiluna Station and eventually to Halls Creek where she joined Yarliyil Art Centre in 2013. Here, Dreamer painted ceaselessly for hours on end. Her vibrantly coloured canvases with their free imagery and sizzling hues bring to life an extraordinary range of flora, wildlife and water life of Old Flora Valley Station, the lush oasis of nearby Palm Springs (Lugangarna) and the abundance of both plants and wildlife she observed on the many journeys she called “walkabout” over vast tracks of her people’s country from Derby to Halls Creek. First, she would set down her main subject (typically fauna, birds, flora or water life), then semi obscure them with sweeps of luminous colours and patterns. The results are joyous works of boundless, raw energy characterised by brilliant colouration and unique figuration.
Old Flora Valley Station (waterlilies and birds), 120 × 90cm
Courtesy Artitja Fine Art, Perth, Everywhen Art, Victora and Yarliyil Art Centre, Western Australia
“My country”, she said, “stays in my dreams. I dream about my home, and I don’t forget about my country.”
Dreamer was a finalist in Perth’s prestigious John Stringer Prize 2022 (in a posthumous tribute) and three works were acquired by the Art Gallery of Western Australia. Kevin Kelly, while manager of Yarliyil Arts, worked with Dreamer from 2017 to 2021. He described her vibrant, energetic work as “compelling and utterly original – unlike any other artist I’d ever seen.” Noting also that in their depictions of now rare wildlife, and ceremonial iconography, many works are also of “profound cultural significance.”
Walkabout – creation woman ancestor in cave, 90 × 60cm
Courtesy Artitja Fine Art, Perth, Everywhen Art, Victora and Yarliyil Art Centre, Western Australia
In 2024, Yarliyil Arts appointed Everywhen Art to represent Mrs Dreamer’s estate and to create a national exhibition program of her work in partnership with Yarliyil Arts. A recent exhibition, My Country Stays in My Dreams, was held by Artitja Fine Art Gallery at their exhibiting space: Earlywork, 330 South Terrace, South Fremantle, in Western Australia from 26 August to 7 September 2025.
artitja.com.au
everywhenart.com.au
Originally published in print – Art Almanac, August 2025 issue, p. 29
