My twin sister Latoya and myself have just started painting bush flowers. Our grandmother Elizabeth Ngwarraye Bonney shows us the good way.
This is the first time I have ever printed using a lino carving. I did the Mwanyen (bush tomatoe) plant because it is sweet tasting fruit that we find in creek beds after the rain.
Printed on 300gsm Stonehenge Paper
My twin sister Latoya and myself have just started painting bush flowers. Our grandmother Elizabeth Ngwarraye Bonney shows us the good way.
This is the first time I have ever printed using a lino carving. I did the Mwanyen (bush tomatoe) plant because it is sweet tasting fruit that we find in creek beds after the rain.
Printed on 300gsm Stonehenge Paper
“I have just started painting, my grandmother Elizabeth Ngwarraye Bonney has been teaching me, she tells me all about the bush Flowers.
This is the first time I have ever printed a lino carving, this is the Atwakey (wild orange).
“Bush medicine plants are used for healing on the body and for drinking. We make this by grinding the plants with a rock, we use the juice and the fibre of the plant.
We collect bush medicine plants when we are out hunting. Different kinds of plants grow during different seasons.
There are lots of different medicines, we know what their stories are, we learnt them from our parents and we teach these stories to our children.”
Bush medicine knowledge is still strong in Ampilatwatja, it continues to be passed down to the younger generations and is widely used.
When the women go hunting they often gather bush medicine. The plants depicted here are found in the country around Ampilatwatja, they are used for soothing skin infections and to make a drink to help with colds and coughs.
Painting bush medicine stories is important because it helps to maintain a strong knowledge and culture for the community.
The layers of Colleen’s paintings are as detailed and complex as the stories she paints.
Colleen’s painting represents a ceremony that is performed by the women in the community. It involves dance, singing and painting the body in ochre, to celebrate their country and their understanding of bush medicine.
The use of the bush medicine and the edible seeds that come in an assortment of colours, are depicted in many of Colleen’s paintings.
This painting is about singing to country, singing the bush medicine in to existence, maintaining it and where to find it.
When I go out hunting I always like to see the colour in the trees, the light, the dark and the bush medicine plants growing on the sand hills. The colours change at sunrise and sunset. I like hunting and seeing my country.
I love to paint since childhood. My paintings show my deep love for my country and the beauty I see.
The community of Ampilatwatja made a conscious decision not to paint altyerr (dreaming stories). The artists paint their country where those stories sit.
This is my country, it’s the country around Irrultja. This is where we like to go after big rain. After big rain there, we can go swimming. There is always good hunting on my country. It is good for me to paint my country and it makes me feel good.
The artists of Ampilatwatja made a conscious decision not to paint altyerr (dreaming stories). The artists paint their country where those stories sit.
They would use the vine of this plant as rope to help carry coolamon with kids. Make like a bag and carry the kids in this.
My grandmother was called Arratherrk and her sister was calle Pwelk, the leaf of the bush banana. At Elkedra there is two vine trees and each sister is named after each one.
Beverly paints her Mother’s country. When Beverly was a child her mother took her all around her country and showed her the bush medicine and bush tucker.
The knowledge of the bush plants has been handed down through generation to generation and Beverly still spends time hunting and collecting bush medicine plants to use in everyday life. Taught by her mother and grand mother, Beverly also sings the songs of the bush medicine plants.
Beverly’s paintings are joyous and full of information regarding bush medicine plants.
The artists of Ampilatwatja made a conscious decision not to paint altyerr (dreaming stories). The artists paint their country where those stories sit.
Alec was born at McDonald Downs Station. He grew up there with his family living traditionally on the land. Alec did not attend school, he moved between different communities with his family.
Knowing your country is an important part of living in a remote community like Ampilatwatja. Knowing when and where to go hunting and gathering, knowing where there is ‘soakage’ (where you can dig for water), travelling with family for ceremonies, and maintaining a connection with the land.
“This is my country, my view of country.”
The artists of Ampilatwatja made a conscious decision not to paint altyerr (dreaming stories). The artists paint their country where those stories sit.