In August 1996, during the dry season in Utopia, Emily Kame Kngwarreye produced her Final Series, a remarkable collection of twenty-four paintings completed in the weeks leading up to her passing. These works mark one of the most significant moments in contemporary Australian art and represent the culmination of a career defined by constant innovation and deep engagement with country.

Over the preceding decade, Emily had developed a visual language that evolved from intricate dot patterns representing yam roots and women’s ceremonial designs, through fluid linear compositions, to bold fields of layered colour. The Final Series, however, marked a decisive and unexpected shift. The detailed dots and lines give way to broad, confident strokes and areas of vibrant colour. In these works, landscape is not mapped or illustrated; it is felt. Colour and form convey the heat, light and energy of country with immediacy and presence. This shift demonstrated Emily’s willingness to explore new territory in her final days, pushing her art toward abstraction while retaining its deeply rooted connection to her homeland.

The creation of the Final Series is as compelling as the works themselves. On the first day, canvases were carefully rolled out in preparation for painting, only for Emily and her family to realise that the only available tool was a 3 cm wide brush, normally used for applying the black base coat before painting the landscape. The family quickly turned away in search of more suitable brushes, believing that such a narrow instrument could not suffice. Yet, by the time they returned, Emily had already begun. With nothing but the 3 cm brush and her own instinct, she painted with a precision, energy and elegance that astounded everyone present. Each stroke was a testament to her mastery and emotion, unfolding in real time as a living, breathing moment of history. No one influenced her; the work came entirely from Emily’s own feelings and her profound connection to country. Witnessing her in that instant was to witness art being created on a level that defied comprehension—a moment that would forever be remembered by those who saw it.

Among these twenty-four works, one painting stands out for its striking use of white. Often interpreted as a moment of intense clarity, the white canvas has been read as Emily’s final distillation of light and space—a visual pause before the close of her life, capturing the threshold between presence and transition. Across the series, Emily’s use of colour and composition suggests a final experimentation with reduction and clarity, distilling her lifelong study of country into a concise and powerful visual language.

The Final Series also highlights the network of relationships that supported and preserved Emily’s practice. The collection was divided between Hank Ebes of the Aboriginal Gallery of Dreamings, her nephew Fred Torres through DACOU, and her niece and fellow artist Barbara Weir. This division reflects both familial and professional connections, ensuring the works were cared for and shared among those who understood their significance.

These paintings have since appeared in key exhibitions, each time reaffirming their importance. They were included in international surveys such as the 1999 ‘Emily’ exhibition at the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, later displayed in the National Museum of Australia’s touring exhibition of her late works, and in 2024 a number were featured at THE LUME Melbourne. More recently, selected pieces were part of UNIT London’s Tjukurrpa: The Dreaming exhibition. Each showing continues to introduce the Final Series to new audiences, emphasising both their artistic mastery and historical importance.

Ultimately, the Final Series represents Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s most radical and confident exploration of her medium. Created in an extraordinary burst of energy over three days, these twenty-four paintings condense a lifetime of observation, ceremony and engagement with country into works of enduring significance. They are a testament to her innovation, her vision and her ability to communicate the spirit of her homeland through abstraction, colour and form. Even as the closing chapter of her career, the Final Series demonstrates that Emily remained uncompromising, fearless and profoundly attuned to the landscapes that shaped her life and art.

Note: The nine works displayed on this page are part of the twenty-four paintings that make up Emily Kame Kngwarreye’s Final Series, created during the final weeks of her extraordinary career. These nine masterpieces proudly remain within the Ebes Collection, held by Hank Ebes, who has for over thirty years preserved not only their artistic brilliance but also the spiritual presence of Emily herself. While twelve of the Final Series were originally retained in the Ebes Collection, three have since found other homes, allowing these rare works to continue to inspire and resonate with new audiences. Together, they stand as a testament to Emily’s enduring vision, her deep connection to country, and the lasting legacy she has entrusted to those who honour and uphold her work.

Fraser McCullough, 2025