Emily Pwerle paints Awleye Atnwengerrp (women’s ceremony) dreaming at Utopia, Northern Territory. (See this article on her.)
Here’s a lovely work of hers, and I’m struck by the connection with it and Merleau-Ponty’s “the whole landscape is overrun with words” (see previous post).
Emily Pwerle – Awelye (UGEP4552) (around 1930 – )
Acrylic on linen, 122 cm x 90 cm
Of course, the language (set of symbols) she uses is somewhat different to Western languages, consisting of the breast painting and bush tomato yam of women’s business. But the symbols crowd, positively overrun the “land” in a joyful energetic way that I find pleasing. Emily and her sisters (and of course many other Aboriginal artists) paint on the ground, and this “earthing” of the process is very different from how Western artists usually work (creating the work in the vertical rather than the horizontal). And when we purchase these works we can hang them any way we like – and they are still very effective. In fact, some galleries sell Aboriginal works with four sets of D-clips on the back (one for each side) – underlining the fact that no one way is considered “up”.
Here’s an article on the Pwerle sisters and their approach to painting.
