Joy often depicts the native botanicals that grow in her ancestral country in the Utopia homelands, which are
collected to be prepared for eating or to be used by the women to treat certain
ailments. One of the many ways that bush medicine can be prepared is by
grinding the dried leaves into a fine powder and mixing them with animal fats
to extract the medicinal qualities and create a healing balm. In this painting,
Joy depicts kame, the tiny seeds and seed pods of the of the creeping
pencil yam plant. Kame is a major Dreaming story in Utopia that details the
weather patterns and the harmony in nature that is essential to bringing abundance
to Country – the strong desert winds that scatter the seeds across the earth,
and the summer rains that bring the cherished plant to life. The pencil yam is
an important source of carbohydrate in the Utopia region, and also holds
significant spiritual meaning - song and ceremony are dedicated to the pencil
yam, as it is both a food source and a healing medicine.