Snake - Kitty Kutuwalumi Purawarrumpatu
Snake, Kutuwalumi Purawarrumpatu Kitty Kantilla
Ochre on Linen, 60x50 cm
$3850
Kitty Kantilla, is known as the ‘first old lady of Jilamara’ and was a founding member of Jilamara Arts & Crafts. Having passed away in October 2003, Kitty’s legacy survives her at Jilamara and throughout the Australian Contemporary art world. Kitty once said of her art, “The jilamara that I do, it’s my father’s design. I watched him as young girl and I’ve still got design in my head. As a young girl, when my sister passed away, I watched him. When he died, I did the same design, right through Nguiu [Paru], I kept painting.
When my husband died in Adelaide, they wanted to give me a widow’s pension but I said, ‘No, I’ll work, make jilamara, carving, make my own living’. Right through all the way, working everyday! When we gathered logs for carving, there was no transport! We carried them on our shoulder, walking, having a rest, walking a long way, heavy work. We worked at home [Paru], with no chainsaws, just tomahawk, carving, hard work. Then we would take the carvings by canoe, paddling across to Nguiu to sell them.”
‘For Kantilla, carving or painting was akin to singing and dancing, so close was the association of mark making in her mind with the intense visual and percussive music of the Pukumani ceremony, where Tiwi gather together together to say goodbye to the deceased, and the design is seen in dynamic motion.
Kantilla’s timings (skin group) was rain and her yogi (dance) was fire, and the elements of water and fire are delicately balanced in her work. Her dots, as steady as gentle rain, form a constant rhythm of detailed marks against which dynamic bursts of big colour, fire, provide moments of intensity.’
For the viewer, Kantilla’s work are highly charged with ritual, with something spiritual and untouchable. ‘ Judith Ryan AM, TIWI Art & Artists.
Kitty’s work has been collected by a significant number of galleries, including the National Gallery of Victoria.
