Awelye I

Perhaps one of the most internationally recognised Australian artists, Emily Kame Kngwarreye first received acclaim for her batik paintings. Kngwarreye, who was born about 1910 at Alhalkere soakage in the Northern Territory, dedicated ten years to the textile medium before moving to painting on canvas in the late 1980s. Although she painted a variety of subjects, including bush foods and emu stories, the markings painted on women’s bodies during ceremonies are depicted in her work Awelye I–V, comprising five panels of canvas. Awelye (body-paint designs) figured in Kngwarreye’s artistic practice in a variety of styles, including dots. However, this series, with bold green and white stripes set against black background, marks a new expression in her practice, which moved towards a more minimal and abstracted awelye. The power that these horizontal bands of colour emit underlines both Kngwarreye’s artistic acumen and her ancestral knowledge.

Gloria Strzelecki, Associate Curator of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art