Roseanne Morton Petyarre / Bush Medicine Leaves (RM779)

Roseanne Morton Petyarre is a rising talent in the world of contemporary Aboriginal art. Born in 1984 at Atneltye (Boundary Bore), in the Utopia region approximately 280km north-east of Mparntwe (Alice Springs), Roseanne was raised in a traditional way and attended school locally so she could remain close to her family and community.

She comes from a renowned family of artists. Her late mother, Gracie Morton Pwerle, was a highly respected artist and a senior custodian of the Anwekety (Bush Plum) Dreaming. Gracie began painting in the 1980s on batik alongside her mother, Myrtle Petyarre, and her sisters — Roseanne’s aunties — Gloria, Kathleen, Violet, Nancy, and Ada Bird Petyarre. All are internationally celebrated artists whose work helped bring the Utopia region to global attention.

From a young age, Roseanne absorbed the cultural knowledge and artistic skills passed down through her mother, aunties, and grandmothers. She paints the Anwekety (Bush Plum) Dreaming, just as her mother did — a story of deep cultural significance involving ceremony, ancestral connections, and the seasonal cycles of this important bush food.

Roseanne’s paintings are composed of flowing brushstrokes that depict the bush plum leaves scattered across Country. The layered movement and colour variations in her work represent the shifting stages of the plant’s life cycle — from the fruiting of the bush plum to the changing colours of its leaves throughout the seasons.

Roseanne lives at Utopia with her husband, Papunya artist James Morris, and their two children. Gentle and immensely talented, she is proudly continuing the artistic traditions of her family and community. With her strong cultural foundation and growing recognition, Roseanne is poised for a long and successful career.

Roseanne paints the Desert Yam (or Bush Plum) story from her family’s country.

The yam grows underground with its viny shrub growing above ground up to one metre high. It is normally found on Spinifex sand plains and produces large flowers after summer rain. The yam is a tuber, or swollen root, of the shrub and tastes much like the common sweet potato. It can be eaten raw or cooked and is still a staple food for the desert aborigines where it can be harvested at any time of the year.

It is also renowned for its medicinal properties. This medicine is used to heal cuts, wounds, bites, rashes and as an insect repellent. In this painting, Roseanne depicts the leaves of the yam paying homage to the spirit of this special plant in the hope that it will regenerate.