Kathleen Ngal
Anwekety Bush plum - 2007
30 x 30 cm
synthetic polymer paint on belgian linen
Code #:8308
SOLD
Provenance
Mbantua Gallery, NT
Coo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW
Story
The conkerberry (or conkleberry) known as anwekety or bush plum to Kathleen, is a sweet black berry that is favoured by desert Aboriginals. They only grow on the plant (Carissa lanceolata) for a few weeks of the year, however Kathleen’s people collect plenty of them and store them dry, soaking them in water again before being consumed. The plant of the conkerberry is a tangled, spiny shrub that can grow up to 2m high. After rain fragrant white flowers bloom. This plant also bares medicinal properties. The orange inner bark from the roots can be soaked in water and the resultant solutions can be used as a medicinal wash. This is particularly favoured for skin and eye conditions. The thorns on the shrub can be sued to sure warts.
Kathleen paints the conkerberry (dot work). In Anmatyerre the conkerberry is called anwekety. This fruit looks very similar to a plum and it often referred to in English by Kathleen as a ‘bush plum’. In the Dreamtime, winds blew from all directions, carrying the anwekety send over Kathleen’s ancestors’ land. The first anwekety of the Dreamings then grew, bore fruit and dropped more seeds. Many winds blew the seeds all over the Dreaming lands.
ShareMORE ARTWORKS BY Kathleen Ngal
Untitled - 2010
Kathleen Ngal 1 Number of 'Avaialable Artworks' by this artist. Click button to view.
183 x 243 cm #19663 VIEW AT: Redfern NSW $38,000
View artwork
HOURS
Tuesday – Saturday
10am – 5pm