Bush Plumby Angelina Ngal

I (Sabine Haider – Director Central Art) have spent some time with Angelina during her visits to Alice Springs, and her sisters have come into town to do errands, visit family, shopping and business. Angelina is an important artist and senior custodian from the Utopia region. The keeper of significant cultural knowledge, she was born in the 1950’s in Utopia and she continues to reside there with her sisters and extended family.

Angelina has skills in producing wooden sculptures, which is likely to have been influenced by her late husband, Louis Pwerle – brother to Cowboy Louie Pwerle. Angelina was his first wife however they were no longer together at his passing. Whilst married Angelina was known as Pwerl, which is in Alyawarr language however it is the equivalent of Ngal in Anmatyerre language. Today, Angelina is referred to as Ngal.

Angelina began experimenting with Batik in the 1980’s in middle age and was also involved in CAAMA’s “Summer Project” during that time. Her artworks were included in the first exhibition of Utopia women’s paintings held in Alice Springs in 1980. She was able to quickly adapt to using acrylic paints and canvas in the 1980’s and subsequently gained international recognition for her works.

Angelina inherited her Dreaming story from her grandfather’s country of Arlparra and the majority of her artworks depict Anwekety or more commonly known as Bush Plum or Conkerberry. Her artworks display fine dotting representing the bush plum and landscape. Her renditions of country are delicately layered by fine dotting and can be read and appreciated as being abstractions however they depict the cultural and social morals of the Anmatyerre language group or clan. Her paintings display the geography of the region, knowledge of sacred places and memories of hunting and ceremonial business. The end result is a subtle and textured surface that hints to the viewer that there are many meanings and “secrets” within the artwork.

Typically Angelina uses a black background with fine perfectly defined white dots with several blue, red or yellow dots identifying significant places however she has included in her repertoire, producing a range of exquisitely coloured compositions.

Angelina is also able to paint Awelye which signifies women’s body paint design during traditional ceremonies however these art works are not commonly produced by Angelina.

Angelina continues to live in Utopia with her sisters, Kathleen and Polly. Together they continue to produce beautiful artworks, sharing with the rest of the world their important cultural knowledge. Angelina will regularly pop into Central Art for a catch up a few times a year.

Angelina’s artworks will appeal to many people, she is highly regarded in terms of her cultural knowledge and status within her family group and her artworks display an eye for detail and precision. Her artworks are well priced and this allows her artworks to be collected by a wider group of art lovers. 

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