Description

Anna Petyarre was born in approximately 1965, and is the daughter of the late Glory Ngarla and niece to the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Her country is Alhalkere and her language is Anmatyerre.

Anna is a very talented artist and paints “˜Yam“, “˜Wildflower“, “˜Emu“’ “˜Wild Potato“ and “˜Campsite Dreaming. Earlier in her career, Anna depicted these dreamings using a bright bold linear style; however, recently Anna has made use of intricate dot work with very small blocks of colour.

Anna“’s paintings have been exhibited extensively throughout Australia and is a well established young Utopian artist.The yam is one of the most stable of bush tucker gathered in the region of Utopia. The yam has a complex root system that can spread up t twelve meters from its stalk. The plant has bright green leaves with yellow flowers and branches out over the wide area. It is commonly found in woodland areas and close to a water source.

It is best harvested several months after rainfall when the exposed plant has died off. As the edible part is attached to the root system it must be located, dug up and gathered. Often large areas excavated to find the yam. In yam dreaming the artist is paying homage to the spirit of the yam plant so that it regenerates year after year to feed the people.