Artist: Cornelia Tipuamantumirri | Title: Winga (Tidal Movement/ Waves) | Year: 2015 | Medium: ochre on linen | Dimensions: 120 x 80 cm
PROVENANCE
Munupi Arts Cat No. 12cor015
ARTWORK STORY
This work depicts the tidal movement of waters in and around the seas and creeks of the Tiwi Islands. Not just influencing fishing and hunting opportunities, the movement of water carries masses of silt and sand, transforming the land and changing the coastal landscape. Winga can also be translated as 'waves', just one part of the changing tides. Tidal surges are at their most powerful when a king tide occurs during the Wet Season, especially during a full moon. Cornelia has a strong bond to the waters surrounding the Tiwi Islands, forged by a lifetime of memories living encircled within the tides of the Arafura Sea.
ARTIST PROFILE
COMMUNITY/ REGION
Tiwi Islands, NT
LANGUAGE
Tiwi
BIOGRAPHY
Cornelia Tipuamantumirri, born around 1929–1930 near the present-day barge landing at Pirlangimpi (Garden Point) on Melville Island, was a respected Tiwi elder affiliated with the Munupi Arts & Crafts Association. Her father’s ancestral country is Imalu Point and her mother’s is Munupi, both on Melville Island. She belonged to the Warntarringa (Sun) skin group, and her Dreaming was Jarrikalani (Turtle).
In her youth, Cornelia guided young Tiwi women in weaving and taught traditional Tiwi dance. She married Steven Tipuamantamirri and raised one daughter, Dolores Tipuamantamirri, as well as a young boy from Peppimenarti, Harry Wilson, who had been part of the Stolen Generation and later married artist Regina Wilson.
Cornelia’s art practice involved using a kayimwagakimi, a comb-shaped ironwood tool, dipped in ochre paints—often pinks and yellows—to portray the reflective lights of the sky and the Arafura Sea.
© Adrian Newstead
REFERENCES
Munupi Arts & Crafts Association. (n.d.). Cornelia Tipuamantumirri. Retrieved December 2024, from https://munupiart.com/collections/cornelia-tipuamantumirri
PROVENANCE
Munupi Arts Cat No. 12cor015
ARTWORK STORY
This work depicts the tidal movement of waters in and around the seas and creeks of the Tiwi Islands. Not just influencing fishing and hunting opportunities, the movement of water carries masses of silt and sand, transforming the land and changing the coastal landscape. Winga can also be translated as 'waves', just one part of the changing tides. Tidal surges are at their most powerful when a king tide occurs during the Wet Season, especially during a full moon. Cornelia has a strong bond to the waters surrounding the Tiwi Islands, forged by a lifetime of memories living encircled within the tides of the Arafura Sea.
ARTIST PROFILE
COMMUNITY/ REGION
Tiwi Islands, NT
LANGUAGE
Tiwi
BIOGRAPHY
Cornelia Tipuamantumirri, born around 1929–1930 near the present-day barge landing at Pirlangimpi (Garden Point) on Melville Island, was a respected Tiwi elder affiliated with the Munupi Arts & Crafts Association. Her father’s ancestral country is Imalu Point and her mother’s is Munupi, both on Melville Island. She belonged to the Warntarringa (Sun) skin group, and her Dreaming was Jarrikalani (Turtle).
In her youth, Cornelia guided young Tiwi women in weaving and taught traditional Tiwi dance. She married Steven Tipuamantamirri and raised one daughter, Dolores Tipuamantamirri, as well as a young boy from Peppimenarti, Harry Wilson, who had been part of the Stolen Generation and later married artist Regina Wilson.
Cornelia’s art practice involved using a kayimwagakimi, a comb-shaped ironwood tool, dipped in ochre paints—often pinks and yellows—to portray the reflective lights of the sky and the Arafura Sea.
© Adrian Newstead
REFERENCES
Munupi Arts & Crafts Association. (n.d.). Cornelia Tipuamantumirri. Retrieved December 2024, from https://munupiart.com/collections/cornelia-tipuamantumirri