Bush Yam Leaves & Seedsby Rosemary Petyarre

This artwork depicts leaves of the Pencil yam plant and its seeds, which were once an important food source for the Anmatyerre people of Utopia in central Australia. There are many Dreaming rituals attached to this plant and homage is paid by the women in their Awelye ceremonies.

The Aboriginal women would gather the seeds, then crush and grind them into a thick paste to make bread. In years past, grass seeds were collected in a most unusual way. Because seeds ripened at different stages, many would fall to the ground and be covered by sand, lost from view. Ingeniously the Aboriginal women would look for the nesting site of a particular ant species that they knew collected the seeds, eating a certain portion before discarding the rest in a pile outside the nest. Once the nest was found the women were able to collect the cast off seeds more easily.

Artist:Rosemary Petyarre
Title:Bush Yam Leaves & Seeds
ID:10032102
Medium:Acrylic on Canvas
Size:146 x 140 cm
Region:Utopia, Central Australia

Artist

Rosemary Petyarre was born in 1945 at Utopia, north east of Alice Springs in Central Australia.

Rosemary was involved in the making of batik and in 1994 she and several other women from Utopia travelled to Indonesia to learn different techniques for producing batik.

After the Summer Project, sponsored by CAAMA in 1988-89, she commenced painting with acrylic on canvas.

Rosemary Petyarre is surrounded by many other family members, who are all accomplished artists. Her Brother is Grenny Purvis Petyarre (passed away 2010), Rosemary sisters are Jeannie Petyarre and Evelyn Pultara.

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