Bush Hen 2000 by Abie Kemarre Loy 31x122cm

"Bush Hen Dreaming, 2000," by Abie Kemarre Loy beautifully depicts her Dreaming Ancestor, known as the Bush Turkey or Bustard. Abie Loy inherited the rights to this Bush Hen Dreaming from her grandfather, a senior custodian from Utopia, connecting her deeply to the ancestral stories of her people.

The painting's vibrant surface, adorned with delicate dotting, captures the essence of bush seeds scattered across the land and bush tomatoes, or arkityira, the favoured food of the female Bush Hen. These yellow fruits, from the native solanum plant, are widely dispersed across the landscape, symbolising the profound connection between the land and its inhabitants.

The Eastern Anmatyerre people of Utopia, where Abie hails from, continue to honour the Bush Hen Ancestor through traditional ceremonies, which include songs and dances. In these rituals, women adorn their bodies with natural ochres in sacred designs, applied with their fingers, culminating at the Utopia site near Mosquito Bore.