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About the Artists
Our vibrant and dynamic artists are from the Utopia region; a large remote area of Central Australia which, until recently, had no government funded art centre. As a result of their pioneering efforts, they have one of the strongest and richest art histories.
PAST EXHIBITION
Polly
7 May - 5 Jul 2021
Polly featured twelve stunning paintings by Polly Ngale, a world renowned artist from a remote community in Utopia, who loves to paint beautiful, meaningful paintings and, in doing so, provide for her community.
EXHIBITION ARTWORK
No longer available
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Polly Ngale's latest body of works are all 'pretty ones, good ones', according to the artist. While Polly speaks little English, she has translators on hand (family) to tell us she's been up since early morning awaiting our visit, excited to paint the next piece in the exhibition.
Watching Polly paint, you see the ultra focus and the joy. While painting she is under a trance like state, even to the point of missing the paint pot on her next daub, rarely looking away from the painting as she scoops up more paint with the brush and paints the next layer. Paint on the floor around her, on her hands, is inevitable. But she looks up frequently to pause and gesture across the canvas: 'good one' she will say.
Polly paints the Conkerberry Story. The sweet little conkerberries are called anwekety in Polly's native language and are sacred to the people of Ahalpere country. It is said that in the Dreamtime, 'winds blew from all directions carrying the seed of this sweet black berry over the land. The first conkerberry then grew, bore fruit and dropped more seeds. Winds blew these seeds all over the Dreaming lands.'
Painting has become an extension of ceremonial song and dance in that it pays homage to the anwekety and the ancestors.
The twelve new paintings in this exhibition have been a labour of love. Large paintings take a lot of time and effort for this '80 something' year old. Four small paintings are included to help make the exhibition and her artworks accessible to all 🤍
