Born: c. 1936
Language Group: Anmatyerre
Country: Ahalpere , Utopia Region,
Area: North East of Alice Springs
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas and Linen, Batik on Silk
Subjects: Anwekety (Conkerberry)
Like her sisters (Angelina and Kathleen Ngale), Polly predominantly paints the Anwekety (conkerberry, also referred to as the bush plum), depicted through superimposed dot work. A vibrant and bubbly person, Polly speaks little English and lives a traditional life at Utopia (North East of Alice Springs). Poly (Polly) Ngal was born in 1936 into the Anmatyarre tribe. Poly Ngal now lives at Camel Camp on Utopia with her family and sisters, Kathleen Ngal, Maisy Ngal and Angeline Pwerl. Poly began her artistic career in batik in the early late 1970s, like many of the women in Utopia, before venturing into painting with acrylic paints on canvas. Poly often assisted her sister Kathleen and also the late Emily Kngwarrey with whom she shared the same country. Together with her sisters, Poly is a senior custodian of the Bush Plum Dreaming.
Poly depicts the Bush Plum and its effects on her country. She often depicts the topography in shades of reds, oranges and yellows reflecting the varying seasonal palette. Like her sister Kathleen she builds up layer upon layer of colour creating a multi-dimensional effect to reveal the Bush Plum Ankwety – and her country – Alparra in all its glory.
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Collections
Mbantua Gallery Permanent Collection, Alice Springs
The Holmes á Court Collection, Perth
Exhibitions
1989 Utopia Women’s Paintings, the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, 1988-89, S. H. Ervin
Gallery, Sydney
1990 ‘Utopia – A Picture Story’ an exhibition of 88 works on silk from the Holmes á Court Collection by
Utopia artists which toured Eire and Scotland
2000 Arts d’Australie Stephane Jacob/Espace Mezzo – Avenue des Champs-Elysées, Paris; Arts d’Australie,
Stephane Jacob / Air France, Paris
2003 20th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the
Northern Territory, Darwin
2008 Emily Kngwarreye and Her Legacy, Hillside Gallery, Tokyo with Coo-ee Art Sydney in conjunction
with the opening of the landmark retrospective exhibition Utopia the Genius of Emily Kngwarreye at
the National Art Centre, Tokyo, Japan
2008 Dreamings the Land, Outback Aboriginal Art, Caulfield, Vic
Bibliography:
Brody, A. 1989, Utopia Women’s Paintings: The First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, 1988-89,
exhib. cat., Heytesbury Holdings, Perth. ©
Brody, A. 1990, Utopia: a Picture Story, 88 Silk Batiks from the Robert Holmes á Court Collection,
Heytesbury Holdings Ltd, Perth. ©
Aboriginal Artists Dictionary of Biographies – Central Desert, Western Desert & Kimberley Region,
written by Janusz B. Kreczmanski & Margo Birnberg
Discovery Media, Documentation Pty Ltd, and the Australian
Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
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Polly Ngale’s Artworks
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