Mabel was born c. 1933 at Five Mile, via Moola Bulla Station, East Kimberley Western Australia. She was raised in her mother’s country, Springvale Station. The family then relocated to Bow River Station where Mabel worked as a young woman.
Mabel is a highly respected Traditional Kitja Elder and acknowledged as one of the great First Generation Ochre artists. She began painting in the mid 1980’s along with the late Queenie McKenzie and Madigan Thomas. Rover Thomas and Jack Britten (both deceased) were already attracting attention with their depictions of the country in ochre, and the women quickly followed, with in-depth Traditional Ngarrangkarni (Dreamtime) stories to explain their artworks. Queenie, Mabel and Madigan are renowned strong women, always workers, great organisers and teachers of culture to the young Kitja women.
The content of Mabel’s paintings centres on Springvale (Darrajayn), as does the works of her brother International Artist Rusty Peters.
Mabel has participated in many Exhibitions and was included in the prestigious Australian Heritage Commission Art Award in 1994. In 1995 she was part of the exhibition Paintings by Warmun Women’ in Canberra.
Solo Exhibitions
2000
Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
2004
Kaliman Gallery, Sydney
Selected Group Exhibitions
1994
11th National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
Maintaining Family Tradition, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide
The 2nd National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award Exhibition, Old Parliament House, Canberra
1995
Paintings by Warmun Women, Australian Girls Own Gallery, Canberra
1999
Bush Garden, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
East Kimberley Art Awards, Kununurra
Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
Japingka Gallery, Fremantle
Karen Brown Gallery, Darwin
Short Street Gallery, Broome
Spirits from an Empty Land, Riverside Studios, London
2000
17th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Darwin
Ben Grady Gallery, Canberra
Bett Gallery, Hobart
Contemporary art of Australian Aborigines, Adelhausermuseum, Freiburg, Germany (in co-operation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Baehr, Speyer)
Art of the Aborigines, Leverkusen and Dormagen, Germany (in co-operation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Baehr, Speyer)
Limited Edition Prints, Chrysalis Publishing, Melbourne
Past Modern, Short Street Gallery, Broome
State of My Country, Hogarth Galleries, Sydney
The Collection. Aboriginal Fine Art & Weavings, Gallery Australis, Adelaide
Contemporary painting of Australian Aborigines, Städtische Gallery, Traunstein, Germany (in co-operation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Baehr, Speyer)
2001
18th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin
Beyond Wings, Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide
The Unseen in Scene, Städtische Gallery Wolfsburg, Germany (in co-operation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Baehr, Speyer)
Fireworks Gallery, Brisbane
Ochres, Short Street Gallery, Broome
Short on Size, Short Street Gallery, Broome
2002
Art from Australia, Art Association Aschaffenburg, Germany (in co-operation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Baehr, Speyer)
Easter Show, Bett Gallery, Hobart
Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne
Aboriginal Art Gallery Baehr, Speyer, Germany
Love Your Work, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle
Span Galleries, Melbourne
Thornquest Gallery, Southport
Women of the East Kimberley, Tandanya, National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide
2003
Garmerrun: All Our Country, Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide
Big Country. Works from the Flinders University Art Museum collection, Flinders University City Gallery, Adelaide
East Kimberley Show, Short Street Gallery, Broome
Masters Exhibition, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs
Recent Works in Orchre by Warmun, Framed Gallery, Darwin
Six Warmun Women Painting Country, Gallery Gondwana, Alice Springs
The Moon Show, Short Street Gallery, Broome, (in co-operation with ArtHouse Gallery, Sydney)
The World Luxury Cruise Ship, Australasis (in co-operation with Thornquest Gallery, Southport)
True Stories. Art of the East Kimberley, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
2004
Stadtgalerie Bamberg Villa Dessauer, Bamberg, Germany (in co-operation with Aboriginal Art Gallery Baehr, Speyer)
2005
Best of Warmun, Gadfly Gallery, Perth
Waterhole Show 11, Grant Pirrie (in co-operation with Raft Artspace), Sydney
Collections
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Art Gallery of Queensland, Brisbane
Artbank, Sydney
Berndt Museum of Anthropology, University of Western Australia, Perth
Broadmeadows Public Hospital, Melbourne
Edith Cowan University Art Collection, Perth
FTB Group Collection
Harland Collection
Harvey Wagner Collection, USA
Kaplan Collection, USA
Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth
National Australia Bank
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Northern Territory University, Darwin
Literature
Big Country. Works from the Flinders University Art Museum Collection. Flinders University City Gallery (Hrsg.), Adelaide 2003, Aust. Cat., ISBN 072581103X
Das Verborgene im Sichtbaren. The Unseen in Scene. Aboriginal Art Galerie Bähr, Speyer, Cultural Department Bayer, Leverkusen, Bayer Australia, Sydney (Hrsg.), Speyer 2000, Aust. Cat., ISBN 3980707202
Meeuwsen, Franca. Aboriginal Kunst, de verhalen vertellen, Zwolle 2000, ISBN 9040095078
The Eighteenth National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award. Telstra, Museum & Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (Hrsg.), Darwin 2001, Aust. Cat., ISBN 072454464X
The Fifth National Indigenous Heritage Art Award. The Art of Place. Australian Heritage Commission (Hrsg.). Canberra 2000, Aust. Cat.
The Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture. Kleinert, S. and Neale, M. (Hrsg.). Oxford Univ. Press, Melbourne 2000, ISBN 0195506599
True Stories. Art of the East Kimberley. The Art Gallery of New South Wales (Hrsg.), Sydney 2002, Aust. Broch.