EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE - YAM DREAMING

 EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE
YAM DREAMING,  1995
122 x 91 cm
synthetic polymer paint on belgian linen
 
PROVENANCE
Utopia, NT
Dacou Gallery, N.T Code Number:  EK479Private Collection, NSWCoo-ee Aboriginal Art Gallery, NSW 
 
STORY
The network of lines traces the patterns of root growth of the finger yam, Anooralya and celebrates the Yam Dreaming for which Emily was custodian.The lines can also be related to Awelye where the body paint is replicated on the skin for ceremony.Always linked to Emilyā€™s validity of expression is Awelye, the ceremonial expression that releases the spiritual power that maintains naturesā€™ fertility and hardiness. Body painting lines are fundamental to the participatory role of women in ceremony. This practise is symbolically linked to this work and helps evoke an atmosphere of ceremony.The belief that good seasons  always return, that yam ā€�always comes backā€™, is fundamental to understanding the desert environment and therefore survival. A parallel layer of expression runs with the fundamental understanding of Awelye , that being of basic human nature, understanding it, and abiding by the rules set down by society in order that it too, will survive.
 
EXHIBITED
Home is Where the Art Is Catalogue, Coo-ee Gallery, October 2012The Bright The Bold & The Beautiful, March 2012, Coo-ee Art GalleryOchres to Dust, June 2009, Coo-ee Art GalleryEN_TRANCE, February 2009, Coo-ee Art Gallery