SP10426
1971
Language Group:Anmatyerre
Country:Alhalkere, Utopia Region, North East of Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Medium:Acrylic on Canvas
Subjects:Atnwelarre (Pencil Yam) and Kame (Seed)
Bessie began painting for Mbantua Gallery in 2005. Her mother, Polly Ngale, has been a painter for a very long time and Bessie is very proud to continue on the tradition and paint alongside her mother. Bessie paints her mother's story, the Conkerberry Dreaming. She resides in Utopia with her husband and four children.
Atnwelarre, the Pencil Yam, and Kame, the seed of this plant, are the subject of Bessie's painting. The Atnwelarre is a trailing herb or creeper, sometimes covering large areas, with bright green leaves, yellow flowers and long skinny yams (swollen roots). These are an important food source which can be eaten raw or cooked in hot sand and ashes.
In the Dreamtime there are two parts to the Kame story. Two different seeds were born that created two different species of Pencil Yam, one called Atnwelarre which belongs to Bessie's country, and the other called Arlatyeye which belongs to Arnumarra country.