Size: 146 x 134 cm

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

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Azeza Possum Ramzan is the daughter of Michelle Possum Nungurrayi and granddaughter of Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri. She lives in Reservoir Melbourne with one daughter Zaraiya Ramzan who was born in 2016.

Like her mother, Azeza also carries on the traditional stories, style, and much of the iconography of her grandfather Clifford Possum, with the addition of women's ceremonial stories and other women's dreamings.

Azeza's paintings also try to convey visual impressions of sunlight, cloud, shadow, and earth. Azeza Possum Ramzan now paints in Melbourne where her family, including her mother Michelle and aunt Gabriella Possum, now live.

Women are the principal gatherers of Bush Tucker and it is an important part of everyday life within the family clan. This particular painting, Grandmother’s Country, depicts women collecting food and also celebrates the fertility of the land. Aboriginal paintings are based on the myths of the Dreamtime. In modern dot representations, the sacred aspect of the painting is not always revealed, but the meaning remains, transmitted through symbols that are easily understood.

Meaning behind the artwork

The Star Dreaming story of the Seven Sisters is one of the most widely distributed ancient stories amongst Aboriginal Australians. The songline for this story covers more than half the width of the continent, from deep in the Central Desert out to the West Coast. The songline travels through many different language groups and different sections of the narrative are recognized in different parts of the country.

In the Seven Sisters story in Aboriginal Australia, the group of stars is Napaljarri sisters from one skin group. In the Warlpiri story of this Jukurrpa, the sisters are often represented carrying the Jampijinpa man Wardilyka, who is in love with the woman. Then the morning star, Jukurra-jukurra, who is a Jakamarra man and who is also in love with the seven Napaljarri sisters, is shown chasing them across the night sky. They are seen to be running away, fleeing from the man who wants to take one of the sisters for his wife. However, under traditional law, the man pursuing the sisters is from the wrong skin group and is forbidden to take a Napaljarri wife.