Jilamara by Jean Baptiste Apuatimi

Jean recreated and interpreted body-painting designs used in Tiwi Ceremony through her art:

“All my paintings are ceremony, same like this one. We Tiwi paint our bodies with ochre for ceremony. This is our body painting design. This is olden days painting. Long ago in the early days we put Yalinga (red ochre), Arrikininga (yellow ochre) and tutuyangini (white ochre) on our face and body for Pukumani (fineral) and Kulama (Yam) ceremonies. The bars going across are the Jilamara (body painting) we put across our stomach and chest. Sometimes we still do this. My husband taught me this style, he used to tell me story about that painting.”