Yaritji Young / Tjala (Honey Ants) (YAY202210)

Artwork is accompanied by Yanda Aboriginal Art Certificate of Authenticity/Provenance. Artwork painted by the artist at Yanda Art Studio, NT

Yaritji Young was born in the bush near Pukatja Creek (Ernabella) SA in c. 1956 and is a renowned Pitjantjatjara artist and senior law woman. She resides in Amata in the South Australian APY Lands with her extended family. Yaritji is a senior law woman who upholds and activitely promotes aboriginal law and culture in her community.

Yaritji commenced painting with Minymaku Arts around 2000 shortly after it was started by the women of Amata. It has since been renamed Tajala Arts, and Yaritji spends her time painting here and at the Yanda Art studio on a purpose-built rural property outside of Alice Springs. She has also worked for and exhibited with the Tjanpi Desert Weavers over the years.

Yaritji comes from a family of talented artists. Her parents are Mick Wikilyiri and Paniny Mick, both important cultural leaders and respected artists and she often paints with four of her sisters – Tjungkara Ken, Sandra Ken, Freda Brady and Maringka Tunkin who together won the Art Gallery of New South Wales Wynne Prize for landscape in 2016 for their collaborative painting of the Seven Sisters story.

Yaritji is known for her bold and vibrant paintings that depict the landscape, cultural heritage, and spirituality of her ancestral homeland. Her signature artworks depict Tjala Tjukurpa (Honey Ant Dreaming). Her unique style blends traditional and contemporary elements, featuring intricate patterns and vivid colours that reflect the rich cultural heritage of her people. This expressive, colourful style is easily recognisable and very much sought after by public and private collectors.

Collections
• Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
• Artbank, Sydney
• Fondation Opale, Lens, Switzerland
• Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney
• National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
• Queensland Art Gallery – Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
• Singapore Art Museum, Singapore

Awards and Recognition
• 2019 Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney – Finalist
• 2019 36th NATSIAA, Darwin – Finalist
• 2018 Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs – Finalist
• 2018 Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney – Finalist
• 2018 35th NATSIAA, Darwin – Finalist
• 2017 Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney – Finalist
• 2017 34th NATSIAA, Darwin – Finalist
• 2016 Wynne Prize, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney – Winner (Tjala Arts Collaborative)
• 2016 33rd NATSIAA, Darwin – Finalist
• 2014 Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs – Finalist
• 2013 30th NATSIAA, Darwin – Finalist
• 2004 29th Annual Shell Fremantle Print Award – Finalist
• 2004 21st NATSIAA, Darwin – Finalist

Selected Solo Exhibitions
• 2019 Yaritji Young – From My Father’s Country, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
• 2019 Yaritji Young and Tjala Arts, Olsen Gruin, New York
• 2018 Ngayuku ngura – My Country, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
• 2017 Walytapitiku Laina – Family Lines, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne

Selected Group Exhibitions
• 2019-20 Before Time Began – Contemporary Aboriginal Art, Fondation Opale, Lens, Switzerland
• 2019 Milpatjunanyi, APY Gallery, Adelaide
• 2018 Sydney Contemporary 18 – presented by Alcaston Gallery, Carriageworks, Sydney
• 2018 Ngampa Ngura Kurunjara – The Place of Our Spirit, Olsen Gallery, Sydney
• 2018 Divided Worlds: Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
• 2018 Art of the APY Art Centre Collective, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
• 2017-18 Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art, Art Gallery of South Australia
• 2017 Yaritji Young: Walytjapitiku Laina – Family Lines, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
• 2017 Sydney Contemporary 17 / presented by Alcaston Gallery, Carriageworks, Sydney
• 2017 Artists of the APY Lands, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
• 2016 Nganampa Kililpil – Our Stars, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Gymea, NSW
• 2013 Heartland – Contemporary Art from South Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide
• 2011 Western APY Lands – Pro Community, ARTKelch, Leipzig, Germany
• 2011 Tjala Artists: Anangu maruku mulapa – This is our real way, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
• 2010 Tjala Men and Tjanpi Desert Weavers, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne
• 2010 Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
• 2009 Kuru Alala – Eyes Open, National Touring Exhibition, Gold Coast City Art Gallery, Gold Coast, QLD
• 2004 Looking after country: Manta Atunymankunytja, Flinders University Art Museum, Adelaide
• 2003 Desert Mob, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
• 2000 Irititja Munu Kuwaritja Tjukurpa – Stories from the past and present, Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute, Adelaide

Yaritji tells the story of Tjala (Honey Ants) which are a favoured food source of the Pitjantjatjara people and are widespread through the sandy desert areas of the Northern Territory and into South Australia. Honey ants are found approx. 1 metre underground beneath Mulga trees. The honey ant tunnels that lead down to the nests are called nyinantu and the honey ant larvae is called ipilyka-ipilyka. When the Pitjantjatjara go looking for honey ants, they look for the drill holes under the trees and when they see them, they dig down following the tunnels to find the Honey ants inside. The swollen abdomen which is full of honey is bitten off and swallowed. It was one of the very few sources of sugar available to nomads of central Australia. The story of the Tjala is told across these desert areas and is an important link between Anangu mythology and interdependence on the environment.