MERNE ANOORALYA, 1995
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE
synthetic polymer paint on linen
150.5 x 89.0 cm
inscribed verso: artist's name, size and Delmore Gallery cat. 95G004
Delmore Gallery, Alice Springs
Private collection
Sotheby's, Melbourne, 24 June 2002, lot 310
Private collection, Melbourne
Merne Anooralya, 1995 is a work that bursts with desert fertility - a charged expression of her custodial yam plant and the interdependent linked life cycles of her ancestors and local flora and fauna.
Produced in the cool of winter, Emily clearly returns here to past thematic statements of late summer ripeness of growth, and the memory of harvests of the yam yielding a serious supply of food. The red seeds in the yam's yellow flowers are thick on the ground available to make into a seed cake of sorts. Very importantly, these seeds entice the male emus to graze the patch, thus fattening the emu chicks that they have hatched and chaperoned across the country. The lifeline of both plant and bird when understood and with all seasonal factors working in tandem, always heralded the land and its people a time of exuberance and colour, orchestrated by the power of song and ceremony calling through nature.
This painting was produced within the first three months of her move into strident lined works. The consequence of working both styles over this time, allowed Emily a rich and robustly coloured expression of her layered dotted style as is displayed here.
JANET HOLT