Angeline Pitjara Luck
Artist Profile
The community of Ampilatwatja made a conscious decision not to paint ‘altyerr’ dreaming stories, the artists paint their country where those stories sit.
Angeline has painted the bush flowers and bush medicine that come up atier rain, on her country of Alyawarr, Central Australia. Knowing your country is an important part of living in a remote community like Ampilatwatja. Knowing when and where to go hunting and gathering, knowing where there is 'soakage' (where you can dig for water), travelling with family for ceremonies, and maintaining a connection with the land.
"This is my country, my view of country."
Angeline was born at Amaroo Station. Her father was working as a gardener and stockman and still travelling around country. As Angeline grew up, she worked on stations as a domestic. She tells ‘I been everywhere, travelling around, working for rations’. As her people were sitting down at Amaroo, her father, mother, sister, brother, all her people there, she came back and settled there, until Ampilatwatja was set up. Angeline likes to paint country, all those places that she knows as a senior elder. Angeline’s dreaming is the kangaroo plant, tucker for the kangaroo. So painting that helps to make it grow, which in turn helps to make the kangaroos fat. Angeline’s painting are closely tied to traditional lore of country and dreaming and she paints in memory of those times, consciously bringing old ways into contemporary expression.