CEREMONY, 1995
EMILY KAME KNGWARREYE
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
152.5 x 90.5 cm
inscribed verso: artist's name and Delmore Gallery cat. 95L39
Private Collection, Donald Holt, Delmore Downs Station, Alice Springs
This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Delmore Gallery
This painting was on loan to the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory during in the late 1990s
A constant force, ritual and experience within Emily's creative drive, was 'awelye' - ceremonial body painting lines - the ceremonial expression invoking the spiritual power that maintains Nature's fertility and hardiness. The process of awelye is fundamental to the participatory role of women in ceremony. This practice directly resonates with the striking work, Ceremony.
Also within Emily's vision across Ceremony is the bridled fertility of rain on hold, not apparent to the eye, patient and resilient, making this compositional stance boldly minimal and stating a reverence for the enduring fundamental strength and importance of the Atnulare Yam and its continual seasonal life cycle. The belief that good seasons always return, and that through ceremony and awelye, the yam 'always comes back', a concept fundamental to understanding the desert environment and its people.
ANNABEL HOLT AND JANET HOLT