Untitled, Francesca Puruntatameri
Ochre on linen, 80cm x 30cm
Provenance: Tiwi Art Network at Darwin Art Fair, Darwin.
The former President of the Munupi Art Association, Francesca Puruntatameri now teaches Tiwi language, arts and crafts at the Pirlangimpi Primary School on Melville Island, while continuing her art practice. As well as painting, she works in printmaking and fabric screenprinting. Purutantameri’s paintings incorporate the traditional use of ochre and dot work on both large and small scale canvases (1).
From the authenticity certificate: During ceremony on the Tiwi Islands a series of ‘yoi’ (dances) are performed, some are totemic (inherited from the person’s Mother) and some serve to act out the narrative of newly composed songs. Participants in these ceremonies are painted with turtiyanginari (the different natural ochre characters) in varying designs, transforming the dancers, and in some cases, providing protection against recognition by mapurtiti (spirits). These designs can be applied in different ways. Ochre is applied to the body and face. These significant artistic designs collectively are called Jilamara.