YAM TRACKING, 1990

Important Aboriginal + Oceanic Art
Melbourne
27 March 2013
2

EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE

(c.1910 - 1996)
YAM TRACKING, 1990

synthetic polymer paint on canvas

152.5 x 122.0 cm

inscribed verso: artist's name and Delmore Gallery cat. OK15

Estimate: 
$80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $156,000 (inc. BP) in Auction 28 - 27 March 2013, Melbourne
Provenance

Private Collection, Donald Holt, Delmore Downs Station, Alice Springs

Literature

Isaacs, J., Smith, T., Ryan, J., Holt, D., and Holt,J., Emily Kame Kngwarreye Paintings, Craftsman House, Sydney, 1998, p. 52, pl. 9 (illus.)

This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Delmore Gallery

Catalogue text

In Yam Tracking, Emily's application of pinks and yellows highlights the varied and changing colours in the life cycle of the Atnulare Yam. From an aerial perspective, it is clear that the country is dry, the sporadic clustered growth of the Atnulare Yam is in decline. Understanding the lifecycle of these plants is vital to survival in the bush, as is understanding the human life cycle and its needs.

This knowledge is affirmed within the narrative of the song cycle sung in ceremony. The lines link Emily's creative source to ceremony, acknowledging and celebrating the spiritual power that maintains nature's fertility and hardiness, ensuring the survival of future generations. Yam Tracking is a superb early example of a strong linear composition with clear similarities to Emily's later minimalist linear Yam works of 1995-96.

ANNABEL HOLT AND JANET HOLT