“My paintings are of my country; my father’s country, my grandmother’s country, the tjala country. Everything that my grandmother taught me, I’m teaching to my children now. They dance because I have shared what I got from my grandmother with my granddaughters , so they can know their culture.”
Yaritji Young
AUSTRALIAN. PITJANTJATJARA, BORN CIRCA 1954
TJALA ARTS
Yaritji Young is a senior law woman and is committed to fostering law and culture. Yaritji was born in Ernabella, South Australia and now resides at Rocket Bore, a homeland north of Amata in Northern Australia. Her works are drawn from the Tjala (Honey Ant) Dreaming.
Yaritji learnt how to make baskets at Amata and like her other Pitjantjatjara relatives probably learnt it from her Western Australian Ngaanyatjarra relatives when they were visiting in the late nineties. Her style is very creative and she has made a wide variety of humorous objects such as small trucks and camp crockery. Her most favoured objects though are the very large low rimmed baskets decorated with emu feathers. She is also a painter.
Yaritji Young is a traditional owner for Tjala Tjukurpa, near Amata. She paints the rock holes and landmarks of her country, entwined with icons and traditional marks that relate to inma (dance) and tjukurpa (dreaming). The twisted lines and shapes mimic tunnels and formations made by the tjala honey ant.