Cornelia Tipuamantumirri

Cornelia Tipuamantumirri was born in Pirlangimpi (Garden Point), Melville Island, circa 1930. Her father's ancestral country is Imalu Point, Melville Island and her mother's ancestral country is Munupi, Melville Island. Her skin group is Warntarringa (Sun) and her dream Jarrikalani (Turtle). Tipuamantumirri lives and works in Pirlangimpi where she is an initiated and respected Tiwi elder.

Tipuamantumirri uses the kayimwagakimi, a traditional carved wood painting comb with a single row of teeth. Using an ocher palette of pinks, yellows, blacks and browns, her work depicts significant aspects of Tiwi life and culture with repeated dotted lines referencing yirrinkiripwoja (body paint) and the tidal movements of the surrounding seas.

Tipuamantumirri, who started painting in 2010, is also an experienced weaver.

Main recent personal and collective exhibitions:

Warnarringa - Jarrikalani: Sun - Turtle, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne (2014)

Cornelia Tipuamantumirri - New Paintings, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne (2013)

Purunguparri (Stringy Bark Hut), Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne (2011)

Ngawa Munupula / Ngawa Kiripapiranjuwi: New Paintings from Munupi Art on the Tiwi Islands, Outstation Gallery, Darwin (2015)

Cornelia Tipuamantumirri and Delores Tipuamantumirri: New Paintings, Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney (2015)

We are Tiwi: Munupi Arts from Melville Island, Artitja Fine Art, Fremantle, WA (2014)

The Tiwi: Art from Jilamara & Munupi Art Centers, Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection, Virginia, USA (2014)

Nginingawila Munupi Jilamara: Our Paintings from Munupi, Marshall Arts, Adelaide (2013)

Kirilima + Jarrikalani - Jungle Fowl + Loggerhead Turtle, Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne (2012)

Masterstroke, Harvison Gallery, Perth (2012)

Tiwi Tradition - Munupi Artists of Melville Island, Artitja Fine Art, Fremantle, WA (2012) Nginingawila Kurrujipini (Our Color), Tiwi Art Network, Darwin (2011).

Main Australian Collections:

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin

National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Private collections.