Josie Petrick Kemarre

This painting describes the search for bush tucker across the Central Desert landscape which is an important part of Aboriginal life. Not only as a means of day to day survival but as a way of ensuring the continued fertility of human and ancestral populations. Bush tucker is freely available for those who know where to look. Women are the principle gatherers of bush tucker, always on the look out for food, edible roots, plants and seeds. Seasons denote different varieties of food available, combined with the natural elements of sun and rain determine the abundance of Bush Tucker. This painting by Josie show us the area near Utopia, approximately 270 km North East of Alice Springs. The purple colouring dots depicts the Bush Berries in their raw state. The red colouring shows us the bush berries during the stages of cooking. The women have been out after the rain, collecting the berries, when they are most abundant. The story illustrated is not only in the ritual of gathering and eating – there is also an aerial perspective of the earth which shows the everchanging colours and textures in the Central Desert Landscape and the life cycle of the plant – its growth and form – before and after the rain.