Description
Details:
Title: Alewye Water Melons
Artist: Betty Mbitjana (daughter of the late Minnie Pwerle )
Size: 60 x 90 cm. Unframed
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Authenticity:
COA and pictures of the artist holding and signing her work will be provide
Story:
Betty paints the Body Paint (Awleye) designs, coupled with the small roundels of bush melons and large roundels (soakages) made famous by her mother ( the late and very famous Minnie Pwerle,
The bold linear pattern of stripes and curves throughout these paintings represent the women’s ceremonial body paint design.
The old women still paint the ceremonial designs on their breasts, first with their fingers, and then with a brush made from a stick. They paint with red and white ochres. Then they dance, showing their legs – the old women dance with a ceremonial stick in the earth. The ancestral spirits of the country gave women’s ceremonies to the old women. The senior woman sings, then she gives that ceremony to the others, to keep it strong.
