Bush Medicine Leaf | 90h x 150w | RK687
Not framed or stretched | Acrylic on primed linen
Abie Loy Kemarre (b. 1972) belongs to the Eastern Anmatyerre language group and identifies with her traditional country at Iylenty or Mosquito Bore.
Abie developed her fine skills as an artist at an early age working closely with her famous grandmother Kathleen Petyarre. Kathleen taught her the techniques to create paintings where the delicate dotting created a moving surface of colour that highlighted the structure of her paintings. Early on, she concentrated on the Bush Hen Dreaming story that she had inherited from her grandfather. Abie’s Bush Hen Dreaming paintings further evolved and she began work on bolder, more abstract style around motifs of Sandhills, Body Painting and Bush Medicine Leaves (Leaf).
In this painting, Abie depicts the leaf of the Antywerleny (Acacia tenuissima), a type of wattle. The leaves are crushed and mixed with animal fat for use as an ointment, or soaked in water to make a medicinal wash. Abie says, "this particular bush medicine is still made and used by the people of her country today".
The expertise shown in her work brought her critical acclaim. She has been exhibiting for thirty years both within Australia and internationally. Her work is held in Australian public collections including National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of South Australia, and Adelaide University Art Collection. She is also represented in major private collections including: Kelton Foundation, Levi-Kaplan Collection, Kerry Stokes Collection, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Commission Collection and Festival of Arts Foundation Collection.
