1956
Language Group:Anmatyerre and Eastern Arrernte (Aranda)
Country:Denipa Station, Northern Territory
Medium:Acrylic on Canvas and Linen
Subjects:Awelye (Women's Ceremony), Arlatyeye (Pencil Yam) Dreaming, Snake Dreaming
Eileen Bird Kngwarreye was born in 1956 and is an Eastern Arrernte and Anmatyerre artist from Denipa Station. She has been painting for Mbantua Gallery since the mid-1990s and is part of a strong family connection to the Utopia art movement.
Eileen grew up with her family, the Webb family, at Harts Range, where many of her siblings continue to live. She is married to the late Paddy Bird, eldest son of renowned Utopia artist Ada Bird Petyarre, and together they have eleven children and several grandchildren, many of whom also paint for Mbantua Gallery.
Working in acrylic on canvas and linen, Eileen paints Awelye (Women's Ceremony and Body Paint Designs) and Arlatyeye (Pencil Yam) stories. Her artwork reflects the cultural knowledge and traditions shared through her family and connection to Country.
The designs in Eileen's painting are influenced by the Arlatyeye (Pencil Yam) Story belonging to her country, Denipa Station.
In the Dreamtime there are two parts to this story where two different seeds were born that created two different species of Pencil Yam, one called Atnwelarr and the other called Arlatyeye. Arlatyeye produces smaller yams and they are an important food source which can be eaten raw or cooked in hot sand and ashes. The Arlatyeye story is a major Dreamtime story for Eileen's country and ceremonies by her people are performed to ensure its productivity as a food source and life form of the ancestors.
