Pwoja, Body Paint Design
2001
Pedro Wonaeamirri
Australian Aboriginal, Tiwi people, Milikapiti, Melville Island, Northern Territory, born 1974
Body paint has been applied to a black ground, recreating the painting that Wonaeamirri frequently undertakes as an active participant and leader in his community. He uses very traditional means—for paints he grinds up ochres that come from deposits on the beach or inland sites on Melville Island and then uses a wooden comb (pwoja) to lay down rows of dots. Each pwoja creates a distinctive design that becomes the mark of the artist’s individuality. Pedro Woanaeamirri likens the pwoja to a bone in his body, a fundamental part of his identity.
--Pam McClusky, Curator of African and Oceanic Art, 2012
Natural pigments on canvas
61 x 41 3/4 in. (155 x 106 cm)
Gift of Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan
2019.20.17
Provenance: [Alcaston Gallery, Victoria, Australia]; Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan, Seattle, Washington, 2001
Photo: iocolor, Seattle