Evelyn Pultara

Evelyn was born at Woodgreen Station in the Utopia Homelands circa 1940. She is an
Anmatyerre woman and the mother of six children. She and her husband, Clem Pultara grew
up together and only moved from their traditional country when Clem took up a job as a
stockman on a nearby property. Evelyn is a shy, quiet woman, whose confidence with a
paintbrush seems at odds with her demure personality. She is the blood niece of the late
Emily Kngwarreye and full sister to the respected lawman and artist Greeny Purvis.

Evelyn began painting in 1997 for Red Sand Art Gallery in Ti Tree (190km North of Alice
Springs). From humble beginnings as a painter of more traditional themes such as bush
tucker and awelye (women’s ceremonial body paint designs), she has progressed rapidly in a
short time period. She now paints her plant totem, the bush yam, exclusively and employs a
variety of styles to convey the story of her country and this native subterranean food source
that forms a part of it. Her strength as an artist is largely defined by her exceptional ability to
work with colour in a fresh and appealing way.

Evelyn was the winner of the prestigious General Painting Award at the National Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards in Darwin 2005. She has been honoured with more than
half a dozen solo exhibitions in Australia and Italy since 2004 and her work has been acquired
by the Janet Holmes a Court Collection and The Leeuwin Estate Collection to name but two.