This artwork refers to the root system of the Pencil yam plant in central Australia as well as body marking applied during awelye ceremonies.

Pencil yam is an important bush tucker food for Aboriginal people and is a significant Dreaming to whose to have attachment to the origins of the pencil yam. It is celebrated in their awelye ceremonies. Certain song lines, body paint and dance cycles are performed to pay homage to ensure perpetual germination of the pencil yam plant.

The Aboriginal women from Utopia dig them up in creek-beds. They look for the white roots, then cook them in the hot earth beside the fire until they are just firm.

If you would like to know more about the Yam and the relationship with Aboriginal Art and culture, please read the following articles:

• Aboriginal Food
• Awelye (Women's Ceremony Art)
• Aboriginal Women
• Utopia Aboriginal Art: Aboriginal Paintings from Central Desert