Alternative Spelling: Gloria Born: 1940 Died: 2002 Region: Central Desert NT Community: Utopia Outstation: Ahalpere Language: Anmatyerre Social Affiliation: Ngalesubsection Subjects: honey grevillea, bush plum body design
Polly Ngale (Ngala) was born in 1940 in Utopia, an area located 270km North East of Alice Springs. This area is known for producing some of Australia’s most well-known female Aboriginal artists. As with many of the women living in the Utopia Area of the Northern Territory, Polly was introduced to batik in the late 1980’s. Polly’s colorful works portray the ‘Bush Plum’ (Arnwetky), of which she and her sisters, Kathleen and Angelina Ngale are senior custodians. Her paintings depict the bush plum its seeds and its various stages of ripening a feast for emus. She calls on her memory of the many shades of her land and the changing colours of the seasons. Polly creates her paintings by building up layer upon layer of colour to create multi-dimensional images.