Artiste : Nancy Marie Kerinauia

Titre de l'œuvre : Jilamara (body paint design)

Pigments naturels sur toile de lin Belge

Format : 90 × 90 cm

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

Référence de la peinture : 20-25

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

Explications pour cette œuvre :

Nancy Marie Kerinauia (1991) began working at Jilamara in 2018. She always wanted to join the art centre as she has strong family ties to many artists who have worked in Milikapiti and enjoyed successful careers at the art centre. Her grandfather was Black Joe and her mother Katrina Kerinauia, both have passed away but remain well known for their artwork.

Nancy is quickly establishing herself as a young and talented emerging artist at Jilamara Arts. She often paints using the kayimwagakimi – a hand crafted ironwood comb used to apply rows of dots instead of a stick or brush. She has a very fine style of jilamara (Tiwi body paint design) and applies this alongside images of her clan totems to create contemporary new work.

The term jilamara in Tiwi language actually describes the ac􀆟on of painting, but is also used to describe designs in locally sourced ochres. Many of these designs are originally drawn from elaborate ochre body painting applied to the face and bodies of family and dancers during the Pukumani (mourning) and Kulama (coming-of-age/yam) ceremonies.

In Pukumani ceremonies it is believed the jilamara disguise the immediate family from the spirit of the dead, leading to very elaborate compositions on the body. In these ceremonies similar designs are also applied to the tutini ( carved ironwood Pukumani poles) and tunga (bark bags) which can form central parts of the ceremony. An individual design and aesthetic is highly valued by Tiwi artists and is representative of their personal interpretation of their family's Tiwi design or jilamara.

You can find his artworks in the following prestigious collections :
Art Gallery of South Australia
Kluge-Ruhe Art Museum, USA
Private collections