Polly Ngale Paintings

Polly Ngale

Polly Ngale is considered one of the most accomplished painters to have come from Utopia. As with many Utopia women, Polly was first introduced to the medium of batik in the late 1980's before commencing painting in the 1990's. Now an elder in her community, Polly’s paintings portray the Anwekety (Conkerberry) Dreaming, of which she and sister Kathleen Ngale are senior custodians.

Watching Polly paint, you see the ultra focus and the joy. While painting she is under a trance like state, even to the point of missing the paint pot on her next daub, rarely looking away from the painting as she scoops up more paint with the brush and paints the next layer. Paint on the floor around her, on her hands, is inevitable. But she looks up frequently to pause and gesture across the canvas: 'good one' she will say.

Polly paints the Conkerberry Story. The sweet little conkerberries are called anwekety in Polly's native language and are sacred to the people of Ahalpere country. It is said that in the Dreamtime, 'winds blew from all directions carrying the seed of this sweet black berry over the land. The first conkerberry then grew, bore fruit and dropped more seeds. Winds blew these seeds all over the Dreaming lands.'

Painting has become an extension of ceremonial song and dance in that it pays homage to the anwekety and the ancestors.

Polly Ngale's paintings are a labour of love. Large paintings take a lot of time and effort for this '80 something' year old.

The technique she employs is often called 'dump dump'. The term was coined when Emily Kame Kngwarreye was painting in the 1990's. Different sized brushes are 'dumped' into the paint pot and then onto the canvas in quick successions to create superimposed dotting that fills the canvas, layer upon layer.

Emily and Polly's lives were closely intertwined. Polly was married to Emily's half brother from Alhalkere, and they started painting in the same period. Their paintings are similarly composed and they are two artists who can use this dotting technique to create vivid, almost multi-dimensional patterns of colour, and are both said to 'convey a deep emotion and sensory experience for the viewer'.

Notable Collections + Exhibitions

Polly's artwork has appeared in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award since 2003. Her honourable mention as a 2004 finalist was followed by representation at the Contemporary Art Fair in Paris at the Grand Palais Champs Elysees. Polly was also exhibited in the exhibition Emily Kngwarreye and her Legacy at the Hillside Forum Daikanyama Tokyo in 2008 alongside fellow Utopian Emily Kame Kngwarreye's work.