Acrylic on Belgian Linen

"I like to learn more about my country, my grandmother's country. Paint􏰀ing is the way of learning."

Born in 1992 Pammy Kemarre Foster is an Alyawarr and Warumungu woman from the small community of Wutunugurra (Epenarra). Pammy’s work takes an abstract approach to the depic􏰀tion of Country, capturing the rhythm of the landscape with repeated mo􏰀tifs and engaging an exaggerated palette to emphasise seasonal changes in the environment. Pammy’s contemporary ar􏰀t practi􏰀ce is built on a foundation􏰀on of cultural knowledge. Her work is influenced by ti􏰀me spent on Country. Hunti􏰀ng trips oft􏰂en form a point of reference for Pammy.

Driving around Wutunugurra one can see the expansive planes of Ilytwelepenty (the Davenport Ranges) appear and disappear with the undula􏰀on of the road. The landscape changes dramatically􏰀 as the sun moves across the sky, casing the red dust of Alyawarr Country in vivid colours. Tiny desert flowers blanket the landscape, encouraged by the heavy rain of the wet season.

Pammy’s work responds to the many colours of the desert landscape with depict􏰀ions of Country of flood and fire. Intricate nets of do􏰃ng coalesce to form a richly textured surface. Bush flowers bloom rhythmically across Pammy’s pain􏰀tings, interspersed with the ubiquitous white-trunked eucalypts that are sca􏰁ttered throughout the hilly country. Aft􏰂er the fire their distinctive􏰀 trunks are burnt black, and the bush flowers bloom more ferociously still. The medicinal proper􏰀ties of these plants is highly valued; bush medicine is a subject of significance for Pammy and many of her contemporaries in the Epenarra art centre.