MINNIE PWERLE - BUSH MELON SEED

MINNIE PWERLE
BUSH MELON SEED,  2001
91 x 122 cm
Synthetic Polymer Paint on Canvas
 
PROVENANCE
Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings, Vic Cat No. AGOD9211
Private collection, Vic
Art Leven, Gadigal NSW
Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings
 
STORY
Minnie Pwerle began painting depictions of her country, Atnwengerrp, and its Dreamings in her late 70s. The way she created her works conveyed a sense of urgency to reconnect with the past and to keep the Dreaming alive. Time and again, she boldly and confidently depicted the body designs painted onto women’s breasts and limbs during the regular ceremonial renewal of her country.
 
Minnie’s primary focus was the Bush Melon and its seeds. Her Awelye-Atnwengerrp paintings draw directly from these ceremonial practices, portraying bush melon, seeds, and the breast designs used in ceremony. The energy in these vibrant, colourful works captures the joy of encountering these sweet bush foods, now scarce and difficult to find.
 
The bold linear patterns of stripes and curves throughout Minnie’s paintings represent the women’s ceremonial body paint designs. After smearing their bodies with animal fat, the women trace these patterns onto their breasts, arms, and thighs, singing as each takes her turn to be ‘painted up’.
 
The songs relate to Dreamtime stories of ancestral journeys, as well as plants, animals, and natural forces. Awelye — women’s ceremony — expresses respect for the land, ensuring wellbeing and happiness within the community through these rituals.