EMILY PWERLE - BODY PAINT - AWELYE
EMILY PWERLE
BODY PAINT - AWELYE, 2010
180 x 93 cm
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Canvas
REGION
Utopia, NT
PROVENANCE
Desert Art Centre, NT
Private Collection, NSW
Cooee Art Leven, NSW
Accompanied by a certificate and DVD of the artist creating the artwork
STORY
This bold linear patterns of intertwined stripes and curves represents the Women's Ceremony body paint design and evokes its shimmer as women dance by firelight. After smearing their bodies with animal fat, the women trace these designs onto their breasts, arms and thighs singing as each woman has a turn to be ‘painted up’.
The songs relate to the Dreamtime stories of Ancestral Travel and other plants, animals and natural forces. Awelye - Women's Ceremony - demonstrates respect for the land and in performing these ceremonies they ensure well being and happiness within the communities. Atnwengerrp is Emily Pwerle's Country.
ARTIST PROFILE
