Emily Kngwarreye's Paintings

Australian landscape artists have been in existence for over 40,000 years with the indigenous totems, symbols and portrayals. In comparison, European Australian artists have been in in early stages of their progression since colonisation, each with their own style, subject matter and connection to the land. Clarice Beckett was a tonalist from the 1910’s, her work only recently recognised. Whereas, Emily Kame Kngwarreye was an indigenous Australian artist who used lines and dots in traditional aboriginal styles. Despite different cultures and styles, both Australian woman are renowned for their ability to tell the story of Australia as a result of their connection to the land. Their history and style have had varying degrees of influence on …show more content…
Kngwarreye took inspiration from her home country of Alhakere, hence, all her paintings were set in that area of Utopia in the Northern Territory where it is located. Growing up in an Aboriginal community, Kngwarreye learned about dances, dreamtime stories and grew close to the land, her culture and her clan, justifying the inclusion of such in her subject matter. Her career evolved from the painting of ochre on the skin of her relatives to eventually painting with synthetic paint on canvas. When painting her thousands of artworks, Kngwarreye used conventional Aboriginal materials such as sticks, rocks and her own fingers in place of the westernised painting brush used by Clarice Beckett. ‘Emu Women’ (see appendix 4), her first canvas artwork, depicts her clan’s emu symbol; Ankerre, derived from their tracks. These symbols are arranged in accordance with a dance the women in her clan frequently repeated. The dots are symbolic of people, painted in deep reds and yellow, these represent the desert and dreamtime stories which connects her to the land she lives on (Aboriginal Art Gallery, 2016). Kngwarreye’s piece, ‘Yam’ (see appendix 2), is also dominated by dots which follow thick lines, representing trails in Utopia and the roots the people of Alhakere rely on for food, also connecting her with the land. Her pieces all evoke emotions of strength, boldness and …show more content…
Both artists painted on canvas, Beckett on occasion painted on cardboard and extended her artworks via means of attaching her canvases to one another. While Kngwarreye has been an inspiration for many of her ancestors to explore Aboriginal art in a westernised setting, developing the rights and excluding the prejudices women and indigenous people have experienced, Beckett’s work was only recently recognised, bringing about the tonalist style in the modern era. Her work has influenced the few aspiring tonalist and realists with her individualised approach incorporating the use of brighter colours and environments (such as the beach), not historically integrated within the tonalist