Evelyn Pultara - Bush Yam Dreaming AEPULTEA6774MM

Provenance: Purchased for $8,000 in 2010 from Art Equity

Price: $10,000

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Evelyn Pultara:

c. 1940 – Present (Indigenous Australian)
Language Group: Anmatyerre
Country: Woodgreen Station (Atneltye), Northern Territory

Evelyn Pultara: Keeper of Yam Stories, A Celebrated Anmatyerre Painter

Evelyn Pultara is a senior Anmatyerre artist from the Utopia region of Central Australia, known for her vibrant depictions of the Bush Yam Dreaming, a story inherited through her father’s line and central to her cultural identity. Born around 1940 at Woodgreen Station (Atneltye), north of Alice Springs, Evelyn belongs to the same extended family of artists that produced some of the most influential voices in contemporary Aboriginal art, including her cousin, the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye.

Evelyn began painting on canvas in the early 2000s, following the success of the Utopia women’s batik movement. Her work is immediately recognisable for its bold colour fields, rhythmic patterning, and sweeping gestures that trace the life cycle of the bush yam — a vital food source and totemic plant for Anmatyerre people. Her compositions often layer interconnected root systems and seed forms, symbolising both the physical and spiritual nourishment provided by Country.

Her paintings are more than decorative abstractions; they are ceremonial maps that express deep knowledge of land, kinship, and survival. Evelyn’s intuitive use of space and mark-making bridges ancestral knowledge with contemporary aesthetic sensibilities, making her work highly sought after by collectors and institutions alike.

In 2005, Evelyn won the prestigious National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA) in the General Painting category, marking a major recognition of her artistic talent and cultural contribution. Since then, her paintings have been included in exhibitions across Australia and internationally.

Evelyn Pultara’s art is a testament to the strength and resilience of Anmatyerre culture. Her canvases not only celebrate the beauty of the bush yam but also serve as acts of cultural preservation, storytelling, and sovereignty.

Major Collections Holding Evelyn Pultara’s Work:

• National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

• Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

• Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), Brisbane

• Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin

• Artbank, Australia

• Mbantua Gallery Collection, Alice Springs

• Numerous private collections in Australia, Europe, Asia, and the United States