Title

Puruntatameri, Patrick Freddy.

Author

The Australian Art Print Network.

Source

[Not applicable]

Publication date

2010

Type

Biography

Language

English

Country of context

Australia

Full text

Patrick Freddy Puruntatameri

Patrick Freddy Puruntatameri was born on Melville Island, the larger of the two Tiwi islands, situated off the coast north of Darwin.

Although he is one of the youngest of the practising Tiwi artists, his work has already been widely exhibited, both within Australia and Europe, since 1992.

His paintings depict the body designs used in the Pukamani ceremony, the traditional Tiwi burial ceremony which is one of the cornerstones of the Tiwi peoples traditional beliefs and are also closely linked to stories of Purrukuparli, the Tiwi mythological ancestor. They are characterised by geometric structures of lines and dots, every line and marking having an important meaning.

These geometric patterns, common to most Tiwi art, often depict sites of stories of mythological significance involving ancestors who were changed into animals or birds. Each Tiwi artist has their own individual interpretation of the designs.

Biography courtesy of The Australian Art Print Network, 2001.
© Australianprints

Last Updated

24 Oct 2023