Artist: Kaye Brown | Title: Pwoja | Year: 2019 | Medium: ochre on canvas | Dimensions: 80 x 30 cm
PROVENANCE
Jilamara Arts & Crafts Association, Community Code 112-19
ARTWORK STORY
Traditional Tiwi Culture placed special significance on the Pukumani (funeral) ceremony. Mourners are decorated using natural ochres to disguise themselves from the spirit of the deceased and song and dance is performed to honour the dead. Yirrinkiripwoja (bodypaint) is the source of many contemporary Tiwi deslgns and performance of the pukumani as ritual helps to reinvigorale the imagery. The shortening of the word to Pwoja - also refers to 'best'.
ARTIST PROFILE
COMMUNITY/ REGION
Tiwi Islands, NT
LANGUAGE
Tiwi
BIOGRAPHY
Kaye Brown is a respected senior Tiwi woman and a retired teacher with extensive knowledge of the old ways, ancestral stories, and the 'hard' Tiwi language. She uses a carved ironwood comb (Kayimwagakimi) to create her Jilamara (body paint design) and pwoja (body) styles, using natural ochres on canvas, linen, paper, and locally sourced stringybark. After retiring, Kaye joined the Jilamara Arts Centre and held her first solo exhibition in 2020. She has twice been selected as a finalist in the Telstra NATSIA Awards. Additionally, her work was featured in the TIWI Exhibition, a major show held at the National Gallery of Victoria from 2020 to 2021.
REFERENCES
Jilamara Arts & Crafts Association
PROVENANCE
Jilamara Arts & Crafts Association, Community Code 112-19
ARTWORK STORY
Traditional Tiwi Culture placed special significance on the Pukumani (funeral) ceremony. Mourners are decorated using natural ochres to disguise themselves from the spirit of the deceased and song and dance is performed to honour the dead. Yirrinkiripwoja (bodypaint) is the source of many contemporary Tiwi deslgns and performance of the pukumani as ritual helps to reinvigorale the imagery. The shortening of the word to Pwoja - also refers to 'best'.
ARTIST PROFILE
COMMUNITY/ REGION
Tiwi Islands, NT
LANGUAGE
Tiwi
BIOGRAPHY
Kaye Brown is a respected senior Tiwi woman and a retired teacher with extensive knowledge of the old ways, ancestral stories, and the 'hard' Tiwi language. She uses a carved ironwood comb (Kayimwagakimi) to create her Jilamara (body paint design) and pwoja (body) styles, using natural ochres on canvas, linen, paper, and locally sourced stringybark. After retiring, Kaye joined the Jilamara Arts Centre and held her first solo exhibition in 2020. She has twice been selected as a finalist in the Telstra NATSIA Awards. Additionally, her work was featured in the TIWI Exhibition, a major show held at the National Gallery of Victoria from 2020 to 2021.
REFERENCES
Jilamara Arts & Crafts Association