Catalogues116 of 257
Click to enlargeSale 2 · Lot 23
b. 1974
- Region
- Tiwi Islands
- Community
- Milikapiti
- Language group
- Tiwi
Body Paint Design, 1998
156 x 36 cm
Est. $3,000 – $5,000
Hammer $2,600
- Provenance
- Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Milikapiti, Melville Island, NT, Cat No. 4/1998 Framed Darwin, Anne Phelan (Director) Private Collection, Albany NY
- Artwork story
- Pedro Wonaeamirri is one of the leading Tiwi artists of his generation, renowned for translating the intricate designs of ceremonial body painting into bold contemporary canvases. In this work, alternating bands of cross-hatching and dotting evoke the power of Tiwi visual language, its precision underscored by the use of natural ochres. The linear rhythm and optical interplay of pattern recall the body designs associated with the Pukumani ceremony, affirming the painting’s deep cultural resonance while also revealing its striking modernity.