Jeannie Mills (b.1965) is from the Alyawarre Language group of Irrultja (also known as Irrwelty and Ittweltye) and Atnwengerrp Country, northeast of Alice Springs. One of a large group of innovative, highly respected women artists from the Utopia region of the Northern Territory, Jeannie has become renowned for her paintings of Anaty, a Dreaming which she inherited from her mother and shares with several other Utopia artists, in accordance with their skin names – in this case, Pwerle.
Anaty (pronounced 'ung-kiy-yah’) - commonly known as a Desert Yam, Bush Potato or rock morning glory - is a native plant (Ipomoea costata) that grows on sandy or rocky soils and on spinifex sand plains in Northern Australia. The plant produces large purplish-pink flowers and edible tubers (anaty) which are a staple food for the people of the Country where it occurs. The tubers can be eaten raw or cooked and tastes much like the common sweet potato.
Anaty also carries a Dreaming Story. Dreaming subjects and stories are usually about things that affect society – including animals and plants, healing, places, and law / lore. Dreamings are traditionally depicted in women’s body painting designs that are part of Awelye – women’s ceremonies associated with women’s business. These paintings and ceremonies have been practised and passed on through the generations over time.
“In Utopia art one of the most common subjects is Awelye (Anmatyerre spelling or Awely - Alyawarr spelling). Awelye is a word that describes everything to do with a women’s ceremony which includes the body paint designs. Women perform awelye ceremonies to demonstrate respect for their country including Dreamtime stories that belong there and the total well-being and health of their community.”*
By depicting Awleye designs such as anaty in their paintings (on their bodies and other surfaces such as canvas and paper), artists pay homage to those significant food sources or other subjects and their associated ceremonies, to communicate their related cultural (and in this case, nutritional) value, to keep the cultural and environmental knowledge alive and to promote continual rejuvenation.
Jeannie is also known for painting women’s ceremonies, among other themes but she predominantly paints Anaty. She has painted many versions of this Dreaming, and over the past twenty plus years has refined her work to depict this story in her own distinctive style. Using a variety of colours in each brush stroke she builds up a pattern of harmonious (and occasionally contrasting) colours of repetitive, elongated brush marks that abstractly represent the plant – including the large purplish-pink trumpet flowers, the impressive root system (the edible tubers), the foliage and the seeds (represented as tiny dots surrounding each elongated shape on the canvas).
“Each brushstroke created by Jeannie Mills Pwerle can have two or three colours on it. Every mark represents Anaty bush yam. In the hundreds of yams on a canvas, each one has multiple tones of colour. The total effect of the composition is that you have an amazing array of colours with a diversity of placement of tones.”†
Jeannie lives and works in her homeland community of Ahalpere, on her Father’s Country where she is involved in educating other, younger women about culture, ceremony and painting. On this Country she collects anaty and other bush foods and medicines, and practices as a ngangker (traditional healer or doctor), providing advice, bush medicines and applications to people of her community.
Influenced by her exposure to the development of contemporary arts in the region (starting with the Batik movement in the 1970s), Jeannie follows in the footsteps of other acclaimed Utopia artists, including her mother Dolly Mills Petyarre and her uncle, the late tribal leader Greeny Purvis Petyarre. Her great aunt is the late Emily Kame Kngwarreye, is one of Australia's most significant contemporary artists.
Jeannie’s artwork has been exhibited in Australia since 1998, and internationally since 2002. She has gained widespread recognition since 2004 and is represented in major national collections including in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra, ACT and the Holmes à Court Collection in Perth. In 2008, Jeannie was a finalist in the 25th Telstra National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA). Her paintings are sold through a range of galleries and exhibitions in the Northern Territory and beyond.
JCU Special Collections reached out to Jeannie through the Mbantua Gallery in Alice Springs and is grateful for their assistance in communicating with her on JCU’s behalf to gain copyright permission for sharing images of her artwork. We are thrilled to have her painting on display in the library and be able to share imagery and information about Anaty as part of the JCU Art Collection, through NQHeritage.
† Japingka Aboriginal Art Gallery
References:
Mbantua Gallery – Jeannie Mills
Pwerle
Atlas of Living Australia: Ipomoea
costata
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