Artiste : Conrad Kamilowra Tipungwuti

Titre de l'œuvre : Warnarringa ( the sun)

Pigments naturels sur toile de lin Belge

Format : 120 × 120 cm

Provenance et certificat : centre d'art aborigène de Jalimara (Tiwi Island)

Référence de la peinture : 256-24

Demander le prix de l'œuvre

© Photo : Aboriginal signature with the courtesy of the artist & Jilamara Art centre (Tiwi Island)

Explications pour cette œuvre :

Conrad Tipungwuti (1966) has been painting and creating limited edition prints at Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association since the late 1990’s. Alongside Timothy Cook, Conrad is part of the Ngawa Mantawi (all of us together) program at Jilamara – a program that supports artists with special needs to have successful careers in the arts while remaining close to family and Country.

Conrad grew up in the “old camp” at Pirlangimpi (Garden Point) with his parents. While it no longer exists, the old camp is spoken about as a community of wulimawi (the old people) and Conrad was raised surrounded by strong culture and regular ceremonies. His Tiwi name is Kamilowra and this was given to him by the famous artist Cornelia Tipuamantumirri’s late husband Steven Tipuamantumirri.

Conrad paints using ochres or earth pigments sourced from around Milikapiti. The over-arching themes of his work depict the wet season Pakatiringa (rain), Warnarringa (Sun) and the Kulama (coming of age ceremony). This is represented by large concentric circles that refer both to the yams prepared during the ceremony and large rings that appear around the moon in late wet season signifying the beginning of the ceremony season.

The sun is very important to the Tiwi people. Parlingarri (creation time) it is believed that the whole world was in perpetual darkness and inhabited by yamparriparri (evil spirits). The wulimaka (old lady) Murtankala came up from underground with three children in a tunga (bark bag) on her back. As she moved around on the surface, she created grooves and crevices in the land with her body. Some of these filled with water and created the geographical shapes and channels of the Tiwi Islands. She made yikwani (fire) by rubbing grass and sticks together and lifted it up into the sky with her two hands to create light for her children, one of whom was Purukuparli (the first Tiwi man). This light became warnarringa (the sun). To this day contemporary Jilamara ar􀆟sts s􀆟ll use locally sourced earth pigments from Country to paint. The yellow ochre is burnt on the fire to make the red pigment – the colours of the land, the sun and fire applied to recall the old designs and creations stories of the Tiwi people.

You can find his artworks in the following prestigious collections :
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Victoria.
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.
Musee des Confluences, Paris, France
Charles Darwin University Collection
Murdoch University Collection, Perth
Edith Cowan University Art Collection, Perth
Artbank Australia
Queensland University Art Museum
Stokes Collection, Victoria…