Shark, 1998, Timothy Cook
Natural earth pigments on canvas, 91cm x 56cm
Provenance: Jilamara Arts and Crafts, Melville Island. Private collection, Melbourne.
Timothy Cook lives and works at Milikapiti on Melville Island as a member of the Jilamara Arts & Crafts Association. His art is deeply personal and he likes to capture the designs passed from his elders. Cook’s paintings, prints and carvings strongly represent the Tiwi ceremonial practices, particularly the Kulama (yam ceremony) and Pukumani (funeral ceremony), as well as stories of Purukapali, one of the great mythological Tiwi ancestral figures. Cook particularly likes to use dots (pwanga) as elements of his designs; dots are his "favourite special" due to the fact that ochre dots are applied to his face for ceremonies. The dots are applied by his bunji – a kinship relationship term which means mate, or in-law. Cook says “I will take a painting to heaven so my mother will recognise me” (1).
Other works by this artist: