EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE - SUMMER ABUNDANCE V
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE
SUMMER ABUNDANCE V, 1993
acrylic on linen
90 x 120 cm; 92 x 122 cm (framed)
PROVENANCE
Painted at Delmore Downs in December 1993
Delmore Gallery, Delmore Downs NT Cat. No. 93L050
The Thomas Vroom Collection, The Netherlands
Bonhams, Aboriginal Art: The Thomas Vroom Collection, Sydney, NSW, September 2015, Lot No. 207
Private collection, Naarm (Melbourne), Vic
Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Delmore Gallery
STORY
In this work, painted in December 1993, the application of yellow and green highlights the varied and changing hues in the life cycle of the Anooralya Yam and other food plants found near Alalgura on Utopia Station, west of Delmore Downs. Viewed from an aerial perspective, the painting reveals the sporadic, clustered growth that emerges following summer rain. The flourish of new life that follows is both exceptional and rapid.
While Emily Kame Kngwarreye was preoccupied with the life cycle of the yam and the women’s ceremonies that celebrate its importance, she explored many interrelated themes—using these subjects to express her Country as a whole. The Anooralya Yam is her principal totem and story. It is a plant of great cultural and practical significance in the arid lands north-east of Alice Springs, valued for its ability to stay fresh after harvest and store well underground.
The yam flower produces seeds (“kame”) that can be processed into a seed cake, and the flower itself is a favoured food of the emu. The resilience of the yam—“it always comes back”—is a powerful metaphor for survival in the desert environment.
Kngwarreye’s use of yellow signals the strong presence of the kame daisy. Her energetic double-dipping brushwork evokes the richness of food hidden underground. Ceremony ensures that good seasons return, and Emily believed that her ritual role helped bring this about—that she “grew up” the food and the people of her Country.
This work is a fine example of Emily painting in anticipation of ceremonies being completed on her Country at Alalgura during the summer of 1993.
ARTIST PROFILE
