Bush Leaves - TL2018/21, 2021

Thelma Pitjara Long  

Thelma Pitjara Long expresses her Dreaming of the bush honey grevillea in intricate paintings of the plants, leaves and flowers as they grow and spread across her country of Arlparra. Her paintings observe these plants and landscape from an aerial often monochromatic perspective.

The bush honey grevillea (Grevillea eriostachya) is a straggly shrub with long, narrow leaves. This plant grows up to two metres tall. In spring and winter it produces long spikes of bright yellow and green flowers, which attract nectar-eating birds.

It is an important plant to the Alyawarre and Anmatyerr women as it was originated by an ancestral being who travelled through their country creating the plant. The women perform ceremonies with totems, dancing and singing to sustain and honour the plant each summer. The flowers contain thick, honey-like nectar which can be sucked directly from the flowers and they soak the flowers in water to make a sweet cordial-like drink.