MY COUNTRY: ALALGURA, 1992
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
150.0 x 120.0 cm
inscribed verso: artist's name and Delmore Gallery, cat. 92A07
Delmore Gallery, Alice Springs
Chapman Gallery, Canberra
Private collection, New South Wales
Chapman Gallery, Canberra
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Delmore Gallery, Alice Springs which states in part: 'Emily has spent most of her life at [her place, "Alalgura" and knows it intimately, in good season and in bad. It is essentially the power of the red bare soil, with its countless seeds of energy hidden, lying in wait for rain, that when recognised, binds one forever to the country by the marvel of such dramatic transformation and abundance that follows.
To witness that abundance that carpets the earth, gives a basis for understanding the reverence and enthusiastic anticipation of the woman's ceremonial activities called "Awelye". They celebrate the hardiness and fertility of their bush tucker and food sources, and in turn, their own.
Using an interesting palette and the smaller dot-work as evidenced in all of her earlier works, Emily displays her country in bold and brazen storms of colour. Each colour represents the raw, ripe and dry fruit, the bud the flower, the dry petals, the plant stem, the stalk, the scattered seeds - all parts of the life cycle. This is one of the several canvases completed when the rain was building up. Emily was unusually calm, and ceremonial activities were on hold. This work is in anticipation of the transition from barren to lush.'