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Catalogue Number: 24/218
This painting tells the story of the bush tomato plant that grows wild across Central Australia. After a big rain, the dry country comes back to life. Tiny pink flowers appear on the bush tomato plants and hard green fruits begin to grow. As the sun warms the land, the fruit slowly changes colour. When it turns yellow, it is ripe and ready to eat. If it stays on the plant longer, the sun dries it and it becomes brown. These dried fruits are still good to eat. The ripe, soft yellow fruit has a tangy taste. The Brown dried fruit tastes more earthy and slightly sweet. Local Aboriginal women and families from nearby remote communities go out onto their country to collect bush tomatoes. The Brown curved shapes in the painting represent women sitting on the ground collecting the fruits.