Emily
Kame Kngwarreye
Anmatyerre (born ca. 1916 – 1996)
Untitled (Yam Dreaming), 1996
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
190 x 124cm
Provenance
Mbantua Gallery, NT, cat.no. MBEK1/BF; accompanied by original certificate
of authenticity and colour image of the artist with the painting
Private Collection, VIC
Documentation reads
Emily’s paintings, through gestural brushstrokes, have an underlying
theme that she describes in her own words "all that country-it’s
a whole lot, everything!" meaning that her painting was not just
landscape but embodied the spiritual and conceptual aspects relating to
her country’s creation (also known as Dreaming). The spiritual is
ceremony – Awelye (performed through singing, body paint and dance).
This introduces ancestral rights and obligations in which past, present
and future simultaneously co-exist and law is passed from generation to
generation. The landscape includes actual landmarks, vegetation, wildlife
and the seasons. It’s an expression of co-existence between Aboriginal
people and the earth.
Literature
For illuminating essays on her work from this period see 'Emily Kngwarreye
Paintings', Craftsman House, 1998; Margot Neale (ed.) 'Emily Kame Kngwarreye,
Alhalkere, Paintings from Utopia, Queensland Art Gallery, 1998
For other Yam paintings executed in similar styles see Neale (ibid.,)
cat.no.78, Untitled 1995 (plate 2, p1) cat.no. 79, Untitled, 1995 (plate
81, illus. p126); Emily Kngwarreye Paintings (ibid.), Wild Yam IV, 1995
(plate 74, illus.p178) and plates 81-85, 1996 (illus.pp183-187).