Rosie Ngwarraye Ross
Rosie Ngwarraye Ross (1951-2023) was born near Amaroo Station, NT. Her skin group was Ngwarraye. In her paintings Ross depicted the bush medicine and wild flowers from around her country. She had a bold expressive style and often omitted the sky from her compositions, combining both aerial and frontal views. Ross exhibited as part of Fragrant Lands: Exhibition of Australian and Chinese Indigenous Art, Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute – touring to Shanghai, China (2014), at Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne (2014) and at Booker-Lowe Gallery, Texas, USA (2015).
Rosie Ngwarraye Ross. Photo: Artists of Ampilatwatja.
Sugarbag Dreaming in ‘Ghost Gum’ and ‘Riverbed’ on operable walling. Photo: Nettleton Tribe.
Outside Artists of Ampilatwatja art centre. Photo: Willie Weston.
Rosie’s design for our Ampilatwatja Collection is called Sugarbag Dreaming. Sugarbag is a name used for both the honey made by the native bees and also for the sweet nectar that comes from the big yellow flowers of the ‘tarrkarr’ trees. Rosie and her family often gathered Sugarbag out in the sandy country around Ampilatwatja [pronounced Um-bludder-watch].
Sugarbag Dreaming in ‘Ghost Gum’ on our High Performance / Outdoor fabric, on the Trace Armchair by Tait. Photo: Dave Kulesza.
Sugarbag Dreaming in ‘Riverbed’ on our Velvet fabric.