Description
This artwork was part of a fundraising auction Ochre: Supporting Indigenous Health through Art.
This is olden days painting. It is Jilamara ““ olden style body painting. The painting shows Tapalinga (which means star). In the past times people wore head bands shaped like a star during Pukamani ceremony. This painting reminds me of that.
Jean Baptiste Apuatimi, or Pulukatu as her father named her, was born at Pirlangimpi (Garden Point) on Melville Island in 1940. She was just 14 years of age, and living at the convent in Nguiu (Wurrumiyanga) on Bathurst Island, when she married her late husband, Declan Apuatimi. Declan was a renowned dancer, singer and the pre-eminent Tiwi artist of his time. During their life together they raised fourteen children and, as she watched him create poles for important ceremonies, he taught her how to mix ochres and paint. Read more at our Top 200 Australian Artists Jean Baptiste Apuatimi profile page