Amelia Riley b. 1999

Amelia Riley is an emerging artist from the small community of Amata, located in the remote Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands of Central Australia. Amelia’s mother is the highly regarded artist, Alison Munti Riley, and her sister Anthea Riley is also a talented emerging artist. With the guidance of her mother, Amelia is developing her own individual style, as she continues learning the stories of her community and culture.

Amelia often depicts a beloved bush tucker of kampurrarpa - bush tomatoes. Kampurarrpa are the fruit of solanum central, a hardy and fast-growing shrub that is endemic to arid regions of Australia. These plants have provided staple foods to Indigenous people of the desert for many thousands of years, as well as the roots which are used for medicinal purposes. The bush tomatoes are also connected to the expansive Kungkakarangkalpa Tjukurpa - Seven Sisters Dreaming songline, which passes through Amelia's ancestral country in the APY Lands. There is a significant cave site associated with this Dreaming; Walinynga, also known as Cave Hill. At this place, the Seven Sisters shape-shifted into kampurrarpa in order to hide from Wati Nyiru, the "bad man" who was pursuing them across Country. You can often see seven roundels in Amelia's paintings to depict the sisters, or seven "tomatoes" to represent their disguise!

Amelia's painting style has a youthful and carefree energy, and just like her mother, she enjoys working with bright, bold colour palettes. In her free time, Amelia loves to play softball.