Daughter of Utopian artist May Lewis Pwerle, Vanessa was born in 1990 and grew up with a traditional aboriginal life at Utopia where she also attended Soapy Bore School learning English. Vanessa began painting approximately 5 years ago and paints alongside her older sisters Jilly, Dorrie, Loretta and Sandra Jones, her mother and extended family. They live in a vibrant community at Rocket Range, Utopia, that nurtures many enthusiastic and talented artists. Many of Vanessa’s paintings bear fine brush work designs that represent the flower and leaves of a Honey Grevillea plant that grows in her country.
Vanessa is an extremely talented young artist with a wonderful future ahead of her.
Vanessa has painted 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 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, Vanessa depicts the leaves and flowers of the yam paying homage to the spirit of this special plant in the hope that it will regenerate.
