Pedro Wonaeamirri
Pedro Wonaeamirri
- Date of Birth: 1974, Milikapiti, Melville Island
- Skin Group: Mulipurrula (White Cockatoo)
Pedro Wonaeamirri is one of the younger generation of Tiwi artists carrying on the tradition of painting ‘Jilamara’ or ‘good design’. Pedro lives and works at Milikapti on Melville Island. His paintings have become highly sought after both in Australia and internationally.
Pedro’s style is structured and organised, his paintings are detailed and precise. Pedro uses Pwoja or Kayimwagakimi, the traditional Tiwi painting comb to execute his many lines and dots that form finely detailed and intricate works.
Pedro paints on canvas, paper, carvings and pukumani poles. He is a traditional dancer who often performs at ceremonies and important events. Pedro honors his traditional culture and is intent on cherishing and passing on Tiwi culture to future generations.
“The designs (jilamara) that I paint today are inspired by watching my close relatives that have passed away and also seeing their works in galleries and museums - that is how I have developed my own style, my own design.
This design ‘Pwoja Jilamara’ is based on the Pukumani (funeral) ceremony. A bit of the design is based on a small ceremony, when the in-laws go out bush and collect the timber to carve a pole for the ceremony and begin to paint it. When the poles are ready they are then placed on a ceremonial dancing ground. When attending the dancing ground the design is painted again differently. My painting is inspired by the first ceremony at the final dancing ground.
I use natural ochres that I collect from around Milikapiti community where I live. There are four colours that I use when I am painting on canvas, paper, bark or ironwood carvings. The white ochre is near the beach and the yellow ochre is inland. To achieve the red ochre we burn the yellow ochre. I use paint brushes and a pwoja (carved wooden painting comb) that I normally make myself from ironwood. The lines of the brush represent the miyinga (scars on the body) and the dots from the pwoja (painting comb) represent yirrinkiripwoja (body painting) and it all comes together to disguise me from the mapurtiti (bad spirits of the dead).”
Pedro Wonaeamirri, 2008
Major Collections
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth
Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane
National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbor, Sydney
Art Bank, Sydney
Gantner Myer Collection
Gordon & Marilyn Darling Collection, Melbourne
Levi-Kaplan Collection, Seattle, USA
