EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE - SPIRIT DESERT III

 EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE
SPIRIT DESERT III,  1992
91 x 152 cm
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
 
PROVENANCE
Utopia, NT
Delmore Gallery NT, Cat No. 92I167Gallery Gondwana, NTPrivate Collection, NSWaccompanied by a Gallery Gondwana certificate of authenticity 
 
STORY
Emily Kame Kngwarreye is widely regarded as Australia's most important and successful Aboriginal artist. Her remarkable career lasted just 7 years prior to her death at 86 years of age in 1996. The painterly quality and originality of her works extended her influence beyond the reach of Aboriginal art and attracted an international audience ready to acclaim her new and innovative contemporary style.This thick textured fusion of deep-ochred yellow and pink hues gives a concentrated view of the desert's food sources after rain. Often hidden from view these seed, fruit and root vegetables are enormously bountiful. The requirement to understand the life cycles of all bush foods is necessary to survival.The dramatic transformation of the desert from bare to abundant is a display of the desert's power. Linked into this is women's ceremonial life called 'awelye' that is based on the belief that they help nurture the desert food sources by assuring future fertile generations.