Awelye- Ceremonial Body Paint by Abie Loy Kemarre
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| Artist: | Abie Loy Kemarre |
| Title: | Awelye- Ceremonial Body Paint |
| Medium: | Acrylic on belgian linen |
| Size: | 90 X 60cm |
| Code: | 4560 |
ABIE LOY KEMARRE - AWELYE
Abie Loy Kemarre is one of Australia’s leading indigenous artists. She began painting in 1994 under the guidance of her famous grandmother, Kathleen Petyarre who imparted the methodology for certain depth-of-field of tiny shimmering lines in her highly delicate paintings. She paints severl styles depicting stories passed down from family incuding the Bush Hen Dreaming , Yam Leaves, My Country, Mountain Devil Lizard and Awelye paintings. Abie's unique signature style of paintings have brought her critical acclaim that postures Loy at the leading edge of the Australian contemporary art movement.
Abie Loy is included in many of Australia's public Gallery collections and several in the USA, as well as in private collections including the Kerry Stokes Collection in Perth. She has participated in several solo exhibitions in Australia and has also exhibited in group exhibitions in Japan, the US, the Netherlands, Germany, Paris and Indonesia. She is also currently featured in the National Gallery Of Australia.
This painting depicts Awelye, the body paint design associated with ceremony. Awelye is the Anmatyerre word for women's ceremonies and also refers to the designs applied to womenʼs bodies as part of ceremony. Only Aboriginal women perform Awelye as this is womenʼs business and is never conducted in the presence of men. As a womanʼs role is typically seen as a maternal figure, Awelye connects the land with fertility to celebrate the food it provides and also for the land to continue to flourish. Awelye ceremony consists of the women painting each otherʼs bodies with organic materials such as ochre, charcoal or ash. They paint specific designs that relate to a woman's Dreaming, skin name and position within the community. During the body painting, the women sing their Dreaming while performing a ceremonial dance.
Digital Finery.