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).

Sugarbag Dreaming by Rosie Ngwarraye Ross is from our Ampilatwatja Collection. 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].