Artiste : Michelle Lewis

Titre de l'œuvre : Michelle's tjala dreaming (honey ant dreaming)

Format : 200 cm x 120cm

Provenance et certificat : centre d'art aborigène d’Ernabella

Référence de cette peinture aborigène : 435-20

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Explication sur cette œuvre :

Michelle’s father's country is a place called Makiri located east of Ernabella near the Fregon community. This is country is tjala tjukurpa (honey ant dreaming). Michelle and her family still visit this country where she draws special attention to the natural elements on the land which are then represented in her paintings:

I am painting the landscape from above, as you might see it from an airplane or as a bird looking down. It is beautiful country both from on the ground and up above. When Michelle created her work, ngayuku mamku ngura ini Makiri (my father's country, a place called Makiri) she was thinking of Makiri and how the tjala (honeyants) tunnel though the sandy soil as well as about the waterholes, the assemblages of trees and shrubs and the country that is “quiet” (empty).

Tjala or Honey Ants are found about a metre underground beneath Mulga trees. The Honey Ant tunnels that lead down to the ant's nests are called nyinantu. The Honey Ant larvae are called ipilyka-ipilyka. When the Pitjantjatjara go looking for Honey Ants they look for the drill holes under the trees. When they see them, they shovel and dig down following the tunnels to find the Honey Ants inside. Honey Ants are a highly favoured food source. They suck the honey-like liquid from the abdomen of the Honey Ant. The story of the Honey Ant is told across the Northern Territory into South Australia. The Honey Ant is an important link between their mythology and inter-dependence on the environment.