DOB: c. 1940

Born: Utopia, NT

Language Group: Anmatyerre

Community: Utopia, NT

Polly Ngale is one of the most senior custodians of her country Alparra, in the heart of Utopia, located in the north west corner of the Simpson desert and roughly 350km north east of Alice Springs, along the Sandover Highway. Polly belongs to the oldest living generation of Utopia women and her artistic career began in the late 1970s when she, like many of the women in Utopia, began working with silk batik before venturing into works on canvas.

Polly is considered one of the most accomplished painters from the Utopia region and is inspired by the Arnwetky (conkerberry) – a green tangled, spiny shrub that produces fragrant white flowers. After the summer rains tiny green berries begin to grow and ripen, changing colour over the weeks from light green to pinks and browns to yellow, to shades of red and purple when they finally ripen. The fruits very much resemble a plum and is often referred to in English by Polly as a ‘bush plum’. The Arnwetky is a popular variety of bush tucker for the people of Utopia, as well as possessing medicinal properties.