Christine Nakamara Brown
"Karra Wadlu Yaitya Purruna: Bush Shrubs Make You Healthy " Exhibition features three of Christine's work
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"My Mother was born under a Quandong Tree, I like to paint quandongs to remember her"
Christine Nakamara (Brown) was born in Alice Springs in 196^ and grew up in a Catholic Mission, with her grandmother, who was a dress-maker at Amoonguna Settlement, at the time the Catholic Missionary was running. She then moved to South Australia - to Ernabella, where she grew up, and now lives in Adelaide. Her Language is Central Arrente from her fathers side. Christine went to the Yirara College (Alice Springs) in 1979, and now lives in Adelaide. Christine paints the women's stories of her bush tucker and life in the bush lands. Each Artwork has a Certificate of Authenticity which explains the meanings. |
Christine Brown Bush Berries
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“Two women digging for Honey Ants”
Medium: Acrylc on canvas
Size: 64 x 29cm
Stretched ready to hang
Signed on the back by Christine
The rows of dots represent the desert sands.
The women are the two U shapes, next to them are their Digging Sticks, used to dig up the Honey Ants, and their Coolomons – wooden bowls used to keep the bush tucker in. The women have found three Honey Ant Nests. The gathering of food and medicine is a group activity and responsibility of the women for the whole community.
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"Honey Ants" are an important source of sweetness out bush. Women go together to collect them for the tribe,
“Bush Tomatoes”
Medium: Acrylc on art board
Size: 30.5 x 30.5cm
Signed on the back by Christine
This is a story of the man and the women, travelling together across Spinifex Country’
This is the land Christine is from, red sand and sparse bush, in north South Australia (APY)
The double lines show the path they are taking. They have found some wild tomatoes and have settled down to enjoy them.
We see the man on one side, he has his spear and his hunting boomerang. The women on the other side, has her digging stick and her coolomon.The dots are the sand and five plants are the spinifex plants.
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On behalf of the Gallery we firstly acknowledge the land now known as Australia belonged to a Nation of People, widely sophisticated, Aboriginal people of Culture, With Gratitude to our Elders past, present and emerging, the Country's ancient Cultural heritage. Always Was, Always Will Be, Aboriginal Land.
We hope that by sharing the Stories of the Artworks more attention is paid to the land supporting us through the emmense Generational Knowledge of this Country Aboriginal people have. |