Evelyn Pultara

Evelyn Pultara is a senior Anmatyerre artist from Woodgreen Station, near Utopia in the Northern Territory. Born around 1940, she comes from a strong artistic and cultural lineage and is the niece of celebrated painter Emily Kame Kngwarreye. Like her famous aunt and her brother Greeny Purvis Pultara, Evelyn holds the bush yam (Anaty) as her totem—an important ancestral plant in Anmatyerre culture that features prominently in her artwork.

She began painting in the late 1990s, bringing to canvas the stories and Dreamings associated with the bush yam. This native plant, used for both food and ceremony, symbolises sustenance, connection to country, and deep spiritual knowledge. Evelyn’s work is immediately recognisable for its rich use of colour and its layered, rhythmic patterning that mimics the movement of the yam underground and the energy of the land.

In 2005, Evelyn won national recognition when she was awarded the General Painting Prize at the prestigious Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards. Since then, her paintings have been exhibited widely across Australia and internationally, and are held in major public and private collections including the National Gallery of Australia and the Holmes à Court Collection.

Evelyn Pultara’s paintings continue to honour her cultural heritage, expressing the strength of her identity and the stories of her country with every brushstroke.