Anthea Riley b. 1997

Anthea Riley is an emerging artist from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankuntjatjara (APY) Lands of Central Australia. Anthea was born in Adelaide and went to school between Pukatja (Ernabella) and Amata. Anthea’s mother is the highly regarded artist, Alison Munti Riley, who taught Anthea and her sister Amelia the stories of their Country. 

Anthea often depicts a favourite bush tucker of kampurarrpa - bush tomatoes. Kampurarrpa are the fruit of solanum central, a hardy and fast-growing shrub that is native to more arid regions of Australia. These plants have provided staple foods to Indigenous people of the desert for many thousands of years. From vibrant purple flowers, the fruit first emerges as green, begins to ripen to a yellow colour, and eventually darkens and turns brown, drying and shrivelling to a “raisin” which can also be eaten. The bush tomatoes are also connected to the significant Kungakarangkalpa Tjukurrpa, Seven Sisters Dreaming, as this songline passes through Anthea’s ancestral country in the APY Lands. There is a significant rock painting site associated with this Dreaming, Walinynga, also known as Cave Hill. At this place, the Seven Sisters shape-shifted into bush tomatoes in order to hide from the “bad man” who was pursuing them, Wati Nyiru. 

Anthea also paints puntaru; the Pitjantjatjara name for the brown quail, a small bird native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. They usually rely on shrubs and tall grasses for protection, and can be quite shy and skittish. They feed on grasses, seeds, shoots and small invertebrates. They are mostly ground-dwelling birds with short legs.

Anthea prefers to paint with bold brush strokes and colourful, patterned dotting, and is developing her own youthful, individual style while learning culture from the older generation.