Twin Ghost Gumsby Vanessa Inkamala

The subject of these artwork is the famous twin ghost gums, made famous by Albert Namatjira. The site of the twin ghost gums is approximately 19km from Alice Springs heading toward Hermannsburg Community in Central Australia. These twin ghost gums were the subject of some of Albert Namatjira's artworks and became a popular tourist stop for those visiting Central Australia. Sadly in 2013 there was an alleged arson attack and the gum trees are no longer there.

In the painting the twin ghost gums are featured at the front of the artwork with the West MacDonnell Ranges featured in the distance of the painting.

Artist:Vanessa Inkamala
Title:Twin Ghost Gums
ID:172-16
Medium:Watercolour on Archer Paper
Size:26 x 36 cm
Region:Hermannsburg, Central Australia

Artist

Vanessa Inkamala was born in 1968 and comes from Hermannsburg Community approximately 1 hour from Alice Springs in Central Australia. Vanessa is the great uncle is Albert Namatjira and the niece of award winning artist Ivy Pareroultja.

Vanessa now lives in Alice Springs but continues to paint in the water colour tradition found throughout her family and Hermannsburg Community. She paints the landscapes of her ancestors which is also the country she belongs to. Though Vanessa was already a skilled artist, she learnt and adopted a new artistic style specific to Santa Teresa, in which she paints spiritual women. The spiritual women who are the subjects of Vanessa’s work are guardians of the land and remain invisible most of the time. Often, they look after a network of waterholes alongside the riverbed. If intruders come stealing some of the country resources such as bush tucker or water, the spiritual women will come out and the offenders will disappear forever.

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