Atham-areny Story

Angelina Ngale

1947

Anmatyerre

Ahalpere, Utopia Region, North East of Alice Springs, Northern Territory

Acrylic on Canvas and Linen, Batik on Silk, Wood Carving

Atham-areny Story, Anwekety (Conkerberry), Awelye (Women's Ceremony), Awelye (Women's Ceremony) for Anwekety (Conkerberry), Women's Story

Born to Nellie Petyarre in the arid desert area of Utopia Station in 1947, Angelina has become an Australian renowned aboriginal artist, with her work held in collections nationally and internationally. Initially Angelina began in the medium of batik when this begun in the late 1970's at Utopia. When acrylics swept the Utopia region about a decade later, Angelina made the swift transition and has continued using this medium like other Utopia artists.

Becoming well known for her fine dot representations of the Anwekety (conkerberry, also known as conkleberry and bush plum), Angelina quickly became a household name amongst Australian Indigenous galleries. Like most other women, Angelina can paint the women's ceremonial body paint designs (Awelye) which she does so with bold and colourful feel, though she paints much less of this. Angelina also enjoys painting another subject, the story of Atham-areny. Atham-areny are small creatures that live where there is no fire. On a trip home to Utopia in January 2003 with Mbantua's field team, Angelina showed us the site of the Atham-areny story and agreed to paint this story for us. Angelina returned with her first two Atham-areny paintings later that month, both of which are now held in the Mbantua Gallery Permanent Collection. Her Atham-areny paintings depict the women prepared to sing and dance with witch doctors to draw sickness out of those touched by the atham-areny creatures.