My Country After Rain

Bernadine Kemarre Johnson

Size: 70 x 92 cm

The Story: A woman’s bush life is one of travelling across their Country, collecting bush medicine and food and water. Aboriginal people hold knowledge of how to find and manage water, and have passed this knowledge down for thousands of years. Water management has always been an important part of Aboriginal survival. This painting is an aerial interpretation of the landscape around Santa Teresa, east of Alice Springs where Bernadine was born. The abundance of blue in this painting indicates that it is after rain, with the water following from the top and filling up the rock holes. Women keep the rock hole tracks clean of sticks and weeds to support collecting clean water.