CHARMAINE PWERLE - SPIRIT DREAMING
CHARMAINE PWERLE
AWELYE, 2016
150 x 250 cmacrylic on canvas
REGION
Utopia, NT
PROVENANCE
Delmore Gallery, NT Cat No. 16E020
Private collection, USA
STORY
This bold linear pattern of intertwined stripes and curves represents the Women's Ceremony body paint design and evokes its shimmer as women dance by firelight. After smearing their bodies with animal fat, the women trace these designs onto their breasts, arms and thighs singing as each woman has a turn to be ‘painted up’.The songs relate to the Dreamtime stories of Ancestral Travel and other plants, animals and natural forces. Awelye - Women's Ceremony - demonstrates respect for the land and in performing these ceremonies they ensure well being and happiness within the communities. Atnwengerrp is Barbara Weir's Country.
ARTIST PROFILE
