Some of Kngwarray’s batik works employed framing devices and this style continued in paintings which were initially often embellished with painted edges on the sides of their stretchers. In the documentation recorded by Jenny Green for Emu Dreaming, 1988, Kngwarray said that the border pattern represents anwerlarr - or pencil yam. This plant is important Dreaming for Alhalker Country.
This batik work teems with goannas, perenties, bush turkeys and small insects as well as awely designs and the fan flower motif. The predominant use of yellow in this work suggests a connection to the yellow fruits of the fan flower plant, which are a favoured food of the emus.
Two early batik works from 1980 and 1981 from the state collections of Victoria and South Australia, also offer an encyclopaedic reference of Alhalker. Plant and animal motifs jostle with meandering lines and roundels, while arrow-like emu tracks and kangaroo tracks. These works give the impression of the unfettered transmission of information from the artist to the textile.
The opportunity to document and share the beauty and power of her country in the new medium of batik and for new audiences seems to have inspired the richness of the subject matter Kngwarray depicted in batik works.
