Yaritji Young

Yaritji Young is a much lauded artist from the Southern Desert Region, known for her dynamic canvases and bold visual story telling. Young is a Pitjantjatjara speaker, from the township of Amata, 120 km south of Uluru. She is the oldest of the Ken sisters, who paint individually and in collaboration. 

Young’s work focuses primarily on the story of the Honey Ant, or Tjala. Her Dreamings (Tjukurpa) of the Honey Ant have to do with the Pitjantjatjara people searching for this illusive and treasured food source. The drill holes left behind by the ants are the foot prints which the Pitjantjatjara people follow to find the nectar below. Once found, the honey liquid is then sucked from the abdomen of the ants. The story of the Tjala is told across the Northern Territory into South Australia, because it is a perfect example of a Anangu mythology portraying the perpetual interdependence of the environment and its people.