Alalgura-emu country
Artist: Emily Kame Kngwarreye (Australian, c.1910-1996)
Date: June 1990
Dimensions:
150 x 120 cm
Medium: Polymer synthetic paint on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Florence Scott Libbey Bequest in Memory of her Father, Maurice A. Scott
Object number: 2016.10
Label Text:To a non-Indigenous Australian viewer, the layers of intricate dots that cover Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s Alalgura—Emu Country may seem like an arresting abstract composition, perhaps even evoking the Abstract Expressionist paintings of Jackson Pollock. However, for Kngwarreye, who was a respected ceremonial leader in her desert country of origin, Alhalker in Australia’s Northern Territory, this organic grid is a distinct visual language with a deep symbolic cultural meaning.
If you look closely you may be able to find the meandering lines hidden under the layers of painted dots. These lines represent the spreading of roots from a yam plant, which is a staple of the desert diet. The roots are also a metaphor for the spiritual forces placed in the ground by the ancestral Emu beings, spiritual figures who represent the original form of the large, flightless birds of Australia.
If you look closely you may be able to find the meandering lines hidden under the layers of painted dots. These lines represent the spreading of roots from a yam plant, which is a staple of the desert diet. The roots are also a metaphor for the spiritual forces placed in the ground by the ancestral Emu beings, spiritual figures who represent the original form of the large, flightless birds of Australia.
DescriptionThe painting is a painterly, abstract composition with painted dots throughout the canvas including purple, green, pink, and yellow as the most prominent colors.
On view
In Collection(s)