Ikuntji Artists acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the Country on which Ikuntji stands, and pays respect to Elders past and present.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander visitors are advised that this website may contain images, voices, names and artworks of people who have passed away.
Arrernte, Pitjantjatjara, Luritja, Pintupi
Haasts Bluff
Alison was born in Alice Springs in Central Australia and moved with her mother back to her country near Haasts Bluff. She has four sisters and a brother. She finished high school in Alice Springs and was working for many years at the school in Ikuntji. Alison was married to Gordon Butcher (dec) who was a founding member of the Warumpi Band which burst onto the Australian rock scene in the early 1980s and soon gained national and international recognition, touring with the likes of Midnight Oil. They had three children together, two of whom are now artists, Serianne Butcher and Erin Butcher.
Alison’s ngurra (country) is 120 km west of Ikuntji called Kungkayunti (Brown’s Bore). The country is full of sandhills and majestic desert oaks through which the wild camels roam. Her artworks depict the Tjukurrpa stories connected to her country: Pintirri Mungangka and Hairstring. Her sisters, Patricia, Lisa and Benita, are artists too and all depict different aspects of their ngurra.
Alison has travelled to Singapore and Korea with her art. She has visited museums across Australia and presented at conferences about the continuing traditions of art-making in Ikuntji. Her t-shirt and fabric designs tell of different aspects of her art-making: the influences of the everyday and of her Tjukurrpa. In 2022, Alison created her first fabric-by-the-metre design.
