c. 1934
Language Group:Anmatyerre
Country:Ahalpere, Utopia Region, North East of Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Medium:Acrylic on Canvas and Linen, Batik on Silk, Seed Jewellery
Subjects:Anwekety (Conkerberry)
Kathleen began her art career in the late 1970's in the medium of batik with over eighty other women from the Utopia Region in Central Australia. Her work in batik is featured in 'Utopia A Picture Story'.
When the acrylics on canvas movement swept Utopia in the late 1980's Kathleen, like the other women, swiftly changed mediums. Kathleen's popularity as an artist grew in the early 2000's for her simplistic 'Anwekety' paintings. Her work has been exhibited around the globe and is also featured frequently in Aboriginal Art Auctions.
Kathleen spoke little English, but absolutely loved to talk, in particularly about her Dreamings and her country. She was enthusiastic about her work and continued to try and teach the wider world about her paintings and the Anwekety that features in them. Her influence was so great that her children are also starting to paint for Mbantua Gallery and, we hope, keep the tradition alive.
This amazingly energetic elderly woman had a vibrant quality in her work that is unbeatable. Kathleen's paintings reflect her energy and colour. Her paintings were well received not only amongst the traditional Aboriginal art collectors but also the new wave of art lovers wanting to incorporate the element of the traditional style of indigenous people and take advantage of the amazing colour combination and effect of Kathleen's paintings.
Artist: Kathleen Ngale
Size: 120 x 90cm
Title: Anwekety (Conkerberry)
Medium: Acrylic on Linen
Year Painted: 2008
Anwekety (Conkerberry)
The conkerberry (or conkleberry) known as Anwekety or bush plum to Kathleen, is a sweet black berry that is favoured by desert aboriginals. They only grow on the plant (Carissa lanceolata) for a few weeks of the year, however Kathleen's people collect plenty of them and store them dry, soaking them in water again before being consumed. The plant of the conkerberry is a tangled, spiny shrub that can grow up to 2m high. After rain fragrant white flowers bloom. This plant also bares medicinal properties. The orange inner bark from the roots can be soaked in water and the resultant solutions can be used as a medicinal wash. This is particularly favoured for skin and eye conditions. The thorns on the shrub can be used to cure warts.
Kathleen paints the conkerberry (dot work). In Anmatyerre the conkerberry is called Anwekety. This fruit looks very similar to a plum and is often referred to in English by Kathleen as a 'bush plum'. In the Dreamtime, winds blew from all directions, carrying the Anwekety seed over Kathleen's ancestors' land. The first Anwekety of the Dreamings then grew, bore fruit and dropped more seeds. Many winds blew the seeds all over the Dreaming lands.
