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Artwork Story
Tenallie paints the Anaty story from her father's country. This yam grows underground with its viny shrub growing above ground up to 1 metre high. The anaty is a tuber, or swollen root, of the shrub and tastes much like the common sweet potato. It can be eaten raw or cooked and is still a staple food for the desert aborigines where it can be harvested at any time of the year. Some can be found as big as a person's head.
1998
Language Group:Alyawarre
Country:Irrultja, Utopia Region, North East of Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Medium:Acrylic on Canvas
Subjects:Anaty (Desert Yam)
Tenallie Mills Petyarre is a young Alyawarre artist connected to Irrweltye Country in the Utopia region of Central Australia. Tenallie began painting for Mbantua Gallery in 2018, following a strong family tradition of sharing Country and stories through art. Her paintings represent Anaty (Desert Yam or Bush Potato), a significant Dreaming story from her grandfather's Country and a bush food she enjoys collecting from the land.
The daughter of artist Natalie Mills Pwerle, who paints the same Anaty Dreaming story, Tenallie also comes from the artistic lineage of her grandmother Josepha Petrick, a respected Utopia artist. Surrounded by family members who share their cultural knowledge through painting, Tenallie continues to develop her own artistic style while honouring the stories passed down to her.
Through her artwork, Tenallie celebrates the connection between Country, family and the traditions that continue to inspire the next generation of Utopia artists.
