c. 2005 by Minnie Pwerle
c. 1998 /99 by Minnie PwerleLast night I attended my first Colour Society [of Australia - NSW Chapter] meeting and was completely amazed, enlightened and inspired by our world of colour... it was so wonderful to be surrounded by like-minded professionals from a spectrum of roles within the design industry. So much so I was inspried by colour usage and theis awesome inspirational feeling I have been consuned with - that I wanted to share with you an artist that always inspires me with her use of colour, stroke, line, subject matter and [Australian indigenous] symbology - the great [late] Minnie Pwerle .
The images of the paintings above refers to two significant elements; Awelye and Bush Melon; from the late Minnie Pwerle's homeland of Atnwengerrp, Utopia in Central Australia. Illustrated symbols are:
- The U shapes represent a woman
- The lines represent body markings
- The small circles represent the bush melon
- The concentric circles represent a ceremonial site
- Awelye refers to womens ceremonies and body paint.
The women anoint their upper body with oil and apply ochre markings, before dancing their ceremony. The bush melon (bush tucker) is said to be found only in Atnwengerrp. The Anmatyerre women gather the fruit to be eaten or dried and stored to be consumed when bush tucker was scarce. If you would like to know more about Awelye & Bush Melon and the relationship with Aboriginal Art and culture, please read the following articles or to view video clip of Aboriginal Women applying body paint design: -
Awelye (Womens Ceremony) Art
Aboriginal Women
Aboriginal Food
Utopia Aboriginal Art: Aboriginal Paintings from the Central Desert
Tribute in Memory of Minnie Pwerle's Art
Video of Aboriginal Women applying body paint design
Info on Minnie Pwerle's artwork from Aboriginal Art Store.
More images of Minnie Pwerle's work can be found at Minnie Pwerle.com.au
Images from Galeria Aniela, Kangaroo Valler NSW Australian
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