Petyarre started as an artist in the Women's Batik Group in 1977, which was launched by the CAAMA (Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association).
In 1999, she won the Wynne Prize with her piece Leaves at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
She also created feather-like strokes with vivid colours, like her piece "Thorny Mountain Devil Lizard Dreaming".
Petyarre lived at an outstation community in Utopia after 1977, where she started batik painting, exhibiting in shows around Australia for ten years.
She began work on the "Summer Project" in 1989 which involved translating the batik paintings onto canvas.