Janice Stanley is an early career painter and ceramic artist and the third generation of Stanley women to create artwork at the oldest regional arts hub in Australia, Ernabella Arts.
Over the last four years, Janice’s art has been exhibited in 35 exhibitions around Australia and internationally, in Adelaide, Alice Springs, Broome, Sydney and Brussels and her art is included in collections from Janet Homes a Court in Perth to the Australian embassy in Croatia.
We came across Janice’s work at Artitja Gallery in South Fremantle, Perth Western Australia. Artitja work closely with the Ernabella artists through an almost decade long working relationship with the art centre.
In 2022, Janice, along with two other artists from Ernabella, Elizabeth Dunn and Michelle Lewis, travelled to Perth to attend the opening night of their exhibition at Artitja, ‘INUNTJI PUTITJA’ (meaning ‘desert colours’ in Pitjantjatjara language). The exhibition displayed a selection of paintings and ceramics providing a glimpse into the world of the Anangu people, who live at Ernabella.
In Perth, Janice’s art can be found at Artitja Gallery in South Fremantle and on the Artitja Gallery website.
About Janice
Janice comes from a long line of artists. Her grandmother is founding artist and traditional healer Tjariya Stanley and her aunts are senior artist Alison Milyika Carroll and Renita and Inawinytji Stanley.
When Janice was still at school, she would visit the art centre and watch her grandmother and aunties creating artworks. After finishing school, she was part of a circus troupe that went on excursion to Christmas Island off the coast of WA. It was there that Janice saw lakes from the air for the first time, which became the inspiration for her paintings.
Janice continues to live in Pukatja with her husband and has two children.
About the Art
Janice’s works include paintings with acrylic on linen canvas and ceramics.
The example of her works currently on display at Artitja and below, depict the salt lakes (‘Pantu’ in Pitjantjatjara), which are situated near Mt Connor (Atilla) near the Northern Territory border. These salt lates are significant to Janice as they are part of the Seven Sisters creation story. The Seven Sisters story relates to the Pleiades constellation and how the sisters ran across the country creating all the landforms with their wake.
Although Janice has never seen the salt lakes from this perspective herself, she imagines viewing the them from a bird’s eye view, which inspires her work in a very unique contemporary way.
Exhibitions & Collections
Group Exhibitions
2024 Mantanguru | From the Sand – Artitja Fine Art, South Fremantle
2023 Nganampa Tjukurpa Nganampa Ara: Our Story Our Way – Sabbia Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2023 Ernabella Arts: Ceramic Warka Wiṟu 20 Years-kutu – 20 Years of Creating Ceramics – JamFactory Craft and Design Centre, Adelaide, SA
2023 Piryakatu – Springtime – Everywhen Artspace, Mornington Peninsular, VIC
2023 Next Gen Ernabella – Sydney Contemporary, Sydney, NSW
2023 Kungkarangkalpa: Seven Sisters – Michael Reid, Berlin, Germany
2023 Caress the Earth II : Manta Ngura Atuntju Kanyini II – Aboriginal Signature, Bruxelles, Belgium
2022 Grand Design 2023: Contemporary Aboriginal Art of Large Scale – Everywhen Artspace, Flinders, VIC
2022 Inuntji Putitja – Desert Colours – Artitja Fine Art Gallery, South Fremantle, WA
Group Exhibitions
2022 Kapi Tjukurpa : Water Stories – Aboriginal Contemporary, Sydney, NSW
2022 Ernabella-ku Tjukurpa : Stories from Ernabella – Everywhen Artspace, Mornington Peninsular, VIC
2022 Desert Colour – Talapi Gallery, Alice Springs, NT
2022 Mina-ka Malangka : After the Rain – Yaama Ganu Gallery, Moree, NSW
2022 Manta Tjula – Soft Earth – Short St Gallery, Broome, WA
2021 Caress the Earth : Manta Ngura Atuntju Kanyini – Aboriginal Signature, Bruxelles, Belgium
2021 Iriti-Ngura Nintini Kuwari-Kutu – Showing the Past in the Present – Praxis Artspace, Adelaide, SA
2021 Desert Mob 30 – Araleun Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT
2021 Spring Salon (Artitja Fine Art) – York, WA
2021 Painting Now: Peindre aujourd’hui en terres aborigènes – IDAIA, Le Havre, France
2021 Ernabella Arts Group Exhibition – Outstation, Darwin, NT
2021 Ananyi Nyurakutu- Going Home – Artitja Fine Art Gallery, South Fremantle, WA
2021 Flying Colours – Talapi Gallery, Alice Springs, NT
2020 Tarnarthi Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art: Open Hands – Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA
2020 Nganampa Tjukurpa Ananyi Wilurara (Our Stories Going West) – Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA
2020 Ernabella Arts: About place – Artitja Fine Art, South Fremantle
2020 Nganampa Tjukurpa Ananyi Kakarara (Our Stories Going East) – Aboriginal Contemporary, Sydney, NSW
2020 I know my Country – Artitja Gallery, South Fremantle, WA
2020 Flying Colours – Talapi Gallery, Alice Springs, NT
2020 Nganampa ngura-nguru nyurampa ngurakutu (From our place to your place) – Aboriginal Signature, Brussels, Belguim
2020 Summer Salon – Artitja Gallery, South Fremantle, WA
2019 Desert Mob 2019 – Araluen Art Centre, Alice Springs, NT
2019 Desert Colour featuring Ernabella ceramics – Talapi Gallery, Alice Springs, NT
2017 Spirited – Kurunitja – Short Street Gallery, Broome, WA
2017 Our Country in Clay – Nomad Art, Darwin NT
2017 Inuntjii – Regeneration – Aboriginal Signature, Estrangin gallery, Bruxelles, Belgium
2016 Pukatjalanguru kungka tjuta kunpu warkarinytja | Ernabella women: strong work, together – Sabbia Gallery, Paddington NSW
2016 The Blooming Desert – Talapi Gallery, Alice Springs
2016 Rising Stars 2019: New Directions – Outstation Gallery, Darwin
Collections
Australian Embassy, Zagreb, Croatia.
Janet Holmes à Court Collection.
Australian Parliament House, Canberra.
Ernabella Arts
Ernabella Arts is Australia’s oldest, continuously running indigenous art centre and is located in the Pitjantjatjara lands in South Australia.
Established in 1948, the first craft products were hand-loomed woven fabrics and hand-pulled and knotted floor rugs with a unique pattern that became knows as ‘the Ernabella walka’ or anapalayaku walka, “Ernabella’s design”.
Since then, it has evolved into an active community of artists, young and old, where ancient stories and craft techniques intersect with contemporary art practice. In more recent years, senior women, like Janice, have moved away from the walka to depict their Tjukurpa (sacred stories of country and law).
The centre’s inimitable reputation lies in this adaptability and innovation by artists who have been exposed to many different mediums since the craft room began. The centre is aboriginal owned and run, promoting and supporting ethical practice in the creation and sale of Indigenous Art.
