EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE - UNTITLED (ALALGURA I)

 EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE
UNTITLED (ALALGURA I),  1992
150 x 120 cm
synthetic polymer paint on belgian linen
 
PROVENANCE
Utopia, NT
Delmore Gallery, Alice SpringsGallery Gabrielle Pizzi, Melbourne (label attached verso)The Collection of Colin and Elizabeth Laverty, Sydney, purchased in September 1993 
 
STORY
Such application of red and yellow colours, 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. From an aerial perspective we see sporadic clustered growth after summer rain. We also look on this exciting work as a water catchment area.The rain falls and water slowly flows along the broad shallow watercourse and replenishes the soakage at Alalgura.The flourish of growth that follows is exceptional and rapid.Reflected in this work is the Anooralya Yam,the most important plant in Emilyā€™s custodianship..This hardy and fertile plant provides both a tuber vegetable and a seed bearing flower called Kame (Emilyā€™s tribal name). The visual evidence of maturing species is no cause for alarm in terms of survival, for the yam tuber can always be found where cracks in the earthā€™s surface indicates its presence underground.Ceremony reinforces through narrative, the significance of this knowledge, in particular, it teaches survival, basic social codes and obligations. The superficial lineal presence keeps this ceremonial reference always present in her expression
 
EXHIBITED
The Collectors Edition, August 2013, Coo-ee Art GalleryBlack Art White Walls ā€“ The Anne and Adrian Newstead CollectionGrace Cossington Smith Gallery January ā€“ March 2014Wagga Wagga Art Gallery April-June 2014Moree Plains Gallery January -May 2015Burrinja Gallery, Upwey, Victoria July-Sept 2015Counihan Gallery, Moreland, Victoria, October ā€“ November 2015Caloundra Regional Gallery Jan ā€“ February 2016O Tempo Dos Sonhos ā€“  The Time of DreamingCAIXAS Cultural in Brazil, SĆ£o Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, BrasĆ­lia, Recife and FortalezaCASA FIAT DE CULTURA, Belo Horizonte, BrazilMuseum of Art of Santa Catarina (MASC), Brazil Museum Cabanas, Guadalajara, MexicoMuseo Nacional de las Culturas del Mundo, Mexico City, Mexico.