"Bush Plum Dreaming" by Kate Pitjara

• Size: 95 cm by 30 cm 

• Acrylic paint on canvas

• Commission Work Available

Born circa 1980, Kate Petyarre (Pitjara) is an emerging artist from Utopia, an area known for its respected artists located 240 kilometres northeast of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Following in her mother Polly Ngale’s footsteps, Kate depicts the Dreamings of the Atnwelarr and Kame (the pencil yam) and the Anwekety (bush plum), traditional stories and knowledge passed down to her.

Anwekety is the Anmatyerre word for conkerberry (or conkleberry), a sweet black berry favoured by desert Aboriginals. They only grow on the plant (Carissa lanceolata ) for a few weeks of the year, however the Women collect plenty of them and store them dry, soaking them in water again before being consumed. This fruit looks very similar to a plum, which is why it is often referred to in English by the Anmatyerre people as ‘bush plum’. There is a Dreamtime story for the Anwekety that belongs to the people of Ahalpere country in the Utopia Region. This means anyone from this country can be taught it and hold ceremonies to ensure its productivity. In the Dreamtime, winds blew from all directions, carrying the Anwekety seed over the ancestors’ land, in Ahalpere country. The first Anwekety of the Dreamings grew, bore fruit and dropped more seeds. Many winds blew the seeds all over the Dreaming lands.

Working similarly to her mother and her highly regarded aunt, Kathleen Ngale, Kate creates her Anwekety paintings by building layers of colour to create multi-dimensional images. Her use of vibrant colours creates a dynamic aspect of the paintings, while the combination of heavy and finer brushwork forms subtle layers of blended tones that create visual shifts within the works.