Evelyn Pultara
Artist:
Evelyn Pultara
Language:
Anmatyerre
Region:
Utopia, NT
Evelyn Pultara was born c.1940 at Woodgreen Station, Utopia, NT. She is an Anmatyere woman
and mother of six.
Evelyn has been painting since 1997. She began painting more traditional themes such as bush
tucker and awelye (women’s ceremonial body paint designs). She now exclusively paints her plant
totem, the bush yam that she shares with her late aunt, Emily Kngwarreye. The bush yam
(atnwelarr) has been an abundant source of food and water for the Anmatyerre people for
countless years. The bush yam is a slender twining plant with yellow pea flowers and edible
tubers. As her totem, it is Evelyn's responsibility to pay homage to it through song and dance in
ceremony - and also in art. Evelyn uses a very vibrant colour palette, depicting in her works
various linear or swirl patterns. She is a shy, quiet woman who rarely gives away more than is
necessary about the context of her paintings. Evelyn's husband Clem (also an artist) is more
gregarious and quite happy to publicly sing the songs that accompany her paintings. "Always the
same song, same story" he tells us, "but she found her own style, she makes paintings her own
way". One can imagine that as long as Evelyn is painting to the rhythm of a yam song and while
she is in 'yam dreaming' frame of mind, then whatever flows forth onto the canvas is naturally
to be called 'Bush Yam'.
Evelyn Pultara's brother is the well-known Utopia artist Greeny Purvis Petyarre. Evelyn's
daughter Rachael Nambula is an emerging artist, depicting the bush yam in a similar style to her
mother.
Collections:
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
The Holmes a' Court Collection, Perth
Exhibitions:
2003
2004
2005
2005
2005
Walkabout Gallery, Sydney, NSW
Evelyn Pultara abOrigena, Milan, Italy
The Art of Evelyn Pultara , Gig Gallery, Sydney, NSW
"Linda Syddick & Evelyn Pultara”, Japingka Gallery, Fremantle, WA
Telstra Award, Darwin, NT