About Poly Ngale
Polly Ngale belongs to the oldest living generation of Utopia women and is considered one of the most accomplished painters to have worked there during the past twenty years. Pollys artistic career began in the late 1970s when she, like many of the women in Utopia, began working with silk batik before venturing into works on canvas.
Polly was one of the most senior custodians of her country Aparra, in the heart of Utopia. She shares this country and the Bush Plum (Arnwetky) Dreaming with her sisters Kathleen Ngale and Angeline Pwerle Ngale.
Polly created her paintings by building up layer upon layer of colour to create multi-dimensional images.
Many of Pollys paintings depict the bush plum and its bright yellow seeds, in its various stages of ripening, or the topography of the land in varying shades of red, orange, and yellow to reflect the changing colours of the seasons. Other works depict designs associated with Awelye, womens business and ceremonial law. Polly Ngale's paintings often depict bright yellow seeds, a feast for emus, amongst the Bush Plums that grow in her country. Her paintings are borne from traditional knowledge and her confident approach to painting can be seen in the way she assembles streams of seeds, piling dots upon each other to create rich thick fields employing glowing palettes of colour.
Her subject matter is drawn from acute observation and memory. Intimate knowledge of country, personal history and ancestral journey. Seamless in her portrayal of these elements her paintings are sensory mind maps that reveal the artists place, and her sense of self all within one framework. Pollys work has been increasingly exhibited since 1999.
Her work has appeared in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award since 2003. Her honourable mention as a 2004 finalist was followed by representation at the Contemporary Art Fair in Paris at the Grand Palais Champs Elysees. Polly was also represented in the exhibition Emily Kngwarreye and her Legacy at the Hillside Forum Daikanyama Tokyo in 2008.
Polly's work has been exhibited extensively both in Australia and overseas.
Collections
The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth
The World Bank, Washington USA
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
Bush Plum Dreaming
- Beautiful colouring
- Measures 148 cms by 148 cms
- Acrylic on canvas
- Painted in Utopia, Northern Territory of Australia in May 2010
- Comes with two lovely photographs of Poly "making her mark" on the rear of the painting
- A lovely match to the blue painting of the same size PN7
- Poly's paintings are sensory mind maps that reveal the artists place, and her sense of self all within one framework.
148 cms by 148 cms
58.2 inches by 58.2 inches