Artist: Polly Ngala

Language Group: Anmatyerr

Region: Camel Camp, Utopia, Central Australia

Dreaming: Bush Plum (Arnwekety)

Polly Ngala (deceased) was born in 1936 into the Anmatyarr tribe. She was married to Ray Yeramba (deceased) and lived at Camel Camp on Utopia with her family and sisters, Kathleen Ngala (deceased), Maisy Ngala and Angeline Pwerle Ngala.

Polly began her artistic career in batik before venturing into painting with acrylic paints on canvas. She often assisted her sister Kathleen and also the late Emily Kngwarreye Kame with whom she shared the same country. Together with her sisters Kathleen and Angeline Polly was a senior custodian of the Bush Plum (Arnwekety) Dreaming.

Polly Ngala’s paintings portray the topography of Utopia in shades of reds, oranges and yellows reflecting the varying seasonal palette. Like her sister Kathleen she builds up layer upon layer of colour creating a multi-dimensional effect to reveal the Bush Plum (Ankwekety) and her country of Alparra in all its glory.Polly Ngala is considered one of the finest contemporary painters from Utopia.

Her subject matter is drawn from acute observation and memory, intimate knowledge of her country and the journey of her  Ancestors. Polly’s work has been increasingly exhibited since 1999.

Her work has appeared in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award since 2003. Her honourable mention as a 2004 finalist was followed by representation at the Contemporary Art Fair in Paris at the Grand Palais Champs Elysees. Polly was also represented in the exhibition Emily Kngwarreye and her Legacy at the Hillside Forum Daikanyama Tokyo in 2008.

• The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth;

• 1988 Aboriginal "Dot" Painting, Melbourne;

• 1992 Modern Art - Ancient Icon, The World Bank, Washington, USA.

• 2014 - Senior Women From Camel Camp, London, UK

• 2014 – Indigenous Group Show, Without Pier Art Gallery, Melbourne

• 2013 - Prairie Hotel, Parachilna, South Australia

• 2013 - Australasian Arts Projects Gallery, Singapore

• 2012 -​Belongings, Australasian Arts Projects, Singapore

• 2011 - Aboriginal Art from Utopia, Without Pier Art Gallery, Melbourne

• 2010 - Desert Icons, Australasian Arts Projects, Singapore

• 2009 - Aboriginal art in Korea, Gong Pyeong Art Space, Seoul

• 2008 - Power of Place, Paintings and Sculpture from the Eastern Desert, Tandanya:

• 2005 - The National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide

• 2003 - 20th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin

• 2000 - Arts d'Australie, Stephane Jacob / Espace Mezzo - Avenue des Champs-Elysees, Paris

• 1990 - Utopia - A Picture Story, an exhibition of 88 works on silk from the Holmes a Court Collection by Utopia artists which toured Eire and Scotland.

• 1989 - Utopia Women's Paintings, the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, 1988-89, S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney.

• Brody, A., 1989, Utopia Women's Paintings: the First Works on Canvas, A Summer Project, 1988-89, exhibition catalogue, Heytesbury Holdings, Perth. (C)

• Brody, A., 1990, Utopia: a Picture Story, 88 Silk Batiks from the Robert Holmes a Court Collection, Heytesbury Holdings Ltd, Perth. (C);

• Aboriginal Artists Dictionary of Biographies - Central Desert, Western Desert & Kimberley Region, written by Janusz B.Kreczmanski & Margo Birnberg