Yarla (Yam Dreaming)
2000
Medium
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
Measurements
205.5 × 149.2 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Ben and Helen Korman through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2018
© Lorner Napurrula Fencer (Yulyulu), courtesy of Lajamanu Progress Association
Gallery location
Gallery 3
Ground Level, NGV Australia
About this work
Acknowledged as one of the great innovators of the Warlpiri art movement from Lajamanu, Yulyurlu Lorna Napurrula Fencer was a senior artist and cultural custodian. Her work depicts the staple bush food yarla (bush potato) and refers to one of three closely interconnected yam or yam-related Dreamings that Fencer inherited from her father, associated with sites such as Wapurtarli and Yumurrpa. Connected to these sites, the kuruwarri (looping lines) that structure Fencer’s compositions also represent women’s ceremonial body paint designs, signs of Yarla ancestral beings embedded in Country, and the cracks in the ground that form as a result of ripening yams, indicating their location for harvesting.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Lajamanu, Northern Territory
Inscription
inscribed in fibre-tipped pen on reverse u.c.l.: Warnayaka Art/ Lorna Fencer/ 202 cm x 147 cm. / Cooee #7694
Accession Number
2018.768
Department
First Nations Australia