Katja Collects: Emily Kam Kngwarray’s Yam Series

As autumn settles in, we turn our gaze toward the powerful work of Emily Kam Kngwarray. The Anmatyerre elder’s yam series paintings shine with deep cultural knowledge and striking abstract beauty. Made with flowing lines and layers of color, Kngwarray’s canvases reflect the underground paths of the yam plant—an important food source and symbol in her community. Her art has become a key part of contemporary Indigenous Australian painting, and one of her most celebrated pieces, Yam Story ’96, is held by the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

If you prefer to read a text version of the below graphic, keep scrolling, we’ve got you covered below!

What:

Emily Kam Kngwarray’s yam series paintings

Where:

Yam Story ’96 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts

Cost:

At auction, depending on size, most of her paintings currently sell in the five to six figure range.

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See it:

If an airline puts an artist’s work on their Boeing 787, you should pay attention. But long before her designs took flight, demand for Emily Kam Kngwarray’s paintings and batiks was already strong. In February 2018, Qantas unveiled a Dreamliner adorned with Kngwarray’s design, inspired by her Yam Dreaming. The moment propelled the Australian Aboriginal artist’s most celebrated yam paintings into even greater global view. Since then, her work has drawn heightened attention at auctions and museum exhibitions, in addition to delighting viewers at airports.

Kngwarray (c.1910-1996) was born in the remote Aboriginal homeland area of Utopia region of Central Australia, slightly north of Alice Springs. It was the locus of a robust indigenous art community, but women were often discouraged from taking up the brush. In 1977 she was introduced to batik as part of adult education classes on Utopia Station and in 1988‒89 painted her first work on canvas, sparking a meteoric rise to prominence in the commercial and museum world.
Kngwarray was the subject of a retrospective at the Tate Modern in the summer of 2025 and is part of a unique collaboration between

The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC the National Gallery of Art in Victoria, Australia.
The exhibit “The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art” introduces American audiences to the large scope of visual art practices of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. It also features Kngwarray’s largest known work, Anwerlarr Anganenty (Big Yam Dreaming) (1995). This immense 9 by 26-foot canvas, drawn in a single, continuous line, represents the underground network of tubular root vegetables.

The yam, or Arlatyeye, is an essential plant for the Anmatyerr people of Utopia, Central Australia; it is not just a food source but also a central part of their cosmology and ceremonies.

The root vegetable was especially important to Kngwarray, as she was a senior custodian of The Yam Dreaming, the English word used to describe Indigenous Australian narratives about the creation of the universe. While many Aboriginal paintings convey elements of the Dreaming with intricate dot patterns, and bold color fields, most of Kngwarray’s yam paintings are characterized by long, undulating, thick lines that represent tubular roots, as depicted by the Yam Dreaming painting at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Collect it:

While the abstract visual language of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples resonates with audience’s perception of contemporary art, their works are usually considered Indigenous art because the meanings are culturally and spiritually driven, rather than being part of an art movement. Regardless of how the artwork is categorized, contemporary art collectors have responded to the work of Kngwarray, and her Aboriginal artist colleagues, which opens the dialogue and awareness about their cultural and historical context.

Kngwarray’s growing presence at major art institutions in 2025 is helping more people discover her work and it’s likely boosting its value. Her market is shaped by both the rarity of her pieces and the distinct phases of her career. When she first began painting, Kngwarray was incredibly prolific, creating about one piece a day. Experts estimate her total output at around 3,000 paintings. Collectors often pay top prices for her earliest large acrylic works from the late 1980s and early ’90s, which are especially sought after.

Her auction record stands at about $1.3 million, set in 2017. While many of her works sell in the $400,000 to $500,000 range, her market shows steady strength. According to the Artnet price database, roughly 80 of her pieces have sold for more than $100,000 at auction which is reflective of her lasting impact and growing global recognition.

Sotheby’s has an Aboriginal Art department, and other auction houses sell art by Kngwarray in their Contemporary Art auctions.

Care for it:

Paintings of oil on canvas age well in the appropriate humidity and temperature environments. Collectors may consider framing the item in glass for the best protection. Be sure to schedule the item on your art insurance policy. As Kngwarray currently has a strong market, it is advisable to check with an appraiser if you purchased a piece more than three years ago. Also, with a lot of press and museum exhibits in 2025, we recommend monitoring her paintings’ market closely in the next few years as the values may recalibrate.

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