Selina Teece Pwerle was born in 1977 in her traditional country of Antarrengeny, which lies in
Alyawarr (sounds like Al-yort-a-wah) country north of the Utopia region approximately 240 km north
east of Alice Springs. Utopia was a cattle station that was returned to Indigenous ownership in the
late 1970s. It is part of a broader region known as the Sandover, containing about 20 Indigenous
outstations and centred on the Sandover River. Due to the fact that Utopia was pastoral land, and
no government settlement or mission was established, the people of Utopia have an unbroken and
continued connection to land. Many Aboriginal men worked as stockmen and Aboriginal women as
domestic help in exchange for food rations and clothing. At the same time, however, ceremonies
and important cultural traditions remained strong.
Since Utopia has returned to Indigenous control, the land has not been grazed significantly and has largely returned to its natural state. Utopia is made up of many outstations. Selina grew up surrounded by artists and amidst the growing interest in art from the Utopia region. She developed her own artistic talents at a very young age and has already revealed great versatility as an artist.
The theme for her paintings relate to the stories from her father's country Antarrengeny. Her painting style can vary from patterns of intricate dots when illustrating a landscape of her country to bold linear work when representing body paint design. Selina is also inspired by other designs that she sees in her country, and is constantly experimenting with design and colour.
In Spring, the desert literally becomes a blanket of wild flowers in a matter of weeks. Many of these are used for medicinal purposes and they are also used as food. As the leaves and petals dry out they fall off and are blown around the ground by the wind. Selina manages to capture this fleeting moment in many of her 'gum blossom', 'bush medicine' and ‘spinifex grass’ artworks, making them quite mesmerising. Selina is also inspired by other designs that she sees in her country, such as
those of the patterns of gum and other blossoms as in the subject of this work. Interest in Selina's work has been steadily increasing and she has been represented in numerous exhibitions both nationally and internationally since 2001. She lives at the Irrerlirre Outstation in the Arltar/Pilta region which is north east of Alice Springs. She lives with her husband, two children and a large extended family.