47 Easey Street, Collingwood
Wednesday - Friday, 11 - 3pm
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni with Marriwiyi, Wulirankuwu Country, Tiwi Islands. Image Courtesy of the artist and Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association. Photo: Will Heathcote
Agency acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Sovereign Custodians of the land on which we live and work. We extend our respects to their Ancestors and all First Nations peoples and Elders past, present, and future.
Agency is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander non-for-profit that celebrates and promotes First Nations art, culture and people on a local, national and international scale.
Our exhibition program showcases the creative practice of urban, regional and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. Designed to connect contemporary artists with new audiences and collectors and celebrate the diversity of First Nations artistic practice, the program is First Nations led and provides professional development and economic return for First Nations artists and communities. Importantly, all exhibitions - whether at Agency’s gallery space in Collingwood or presented in partnership with other initiatives or institutions - provide an opportunity for audiences to go beyond the art, centering the artist’s practice through talks, video portraits and engagement.
Agency
47 Easey Street, Collingwood
Wednesday - Friday, 11 - 3pm
Images courtesy of the Artist and Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association. Photo; Will Heathcote
In Relation
I first met Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni while working with Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair as one of the curatorial delegates in 2017. I was tasked with assisting an art center to set up a stall, and Michelle and Jilamara were our neighbors. It was an exciting day with curators and art centers setting up for the annual fair, with all their stunning works out on display for the thousands of people who would walk through the doors over the coming days. Dressed in high vis and feeling chatty, I introduced myself to the Jilamara team which included Michelle. I vividly remember Michelle’s beaming smile and kind eyes. Michelle is level headed, considerate, kind, humble and always willing to teach people about her culture. As an arts worker she is approachable, knowledgeable and patient. Her career has seen her traverse the arts world from the ‘back of house’ and as an artist in the spotlight. Not an easy balance to get right for most. Michelle thrives on both sides of the arts stage.
The title of the exhibition, In Relation, refers both to those she is directly related to and the art she produces, which is itself a product of her relationship with her culture and deep ancestors. Everything artistic for Michelle is in relation to being Tiwi. If we pay attention to the Tiwi story, the body of work she has offered us tracks the principal stories of importance to Tiwi culture, from life to death.
Images courtesy of the Artist and Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association. Photo; Will Heathcote
Michelle’s painting on canvas and bark directly speak to Murtankala, the original Tiwi lady. She brought light by making the sun with fire and while crawling across the surface of Country created the Tiwi Islands and its sites of significance. Tilted Ngiya Murrakupupuni, my Country, Michelle asserts her connection to Tiwi and Murtankala utilising the iconic Tiwi kayimwagakimi or pwoja (comb) and locally sourced ochre pigments. Michelle’s multi-panelled paintings stand out most to me. Her unique use of the pwoja is distinctly her own. She utilises the angles of the comb and consistency of the pigment to create movement and texture while layering her comb work to create layers of Country. In doing so she captures the essence and movement of her island homes.
Michelle’s sculpture practice includes dance adornment, Tutini and tunga which are all key items given to Tiwi people from deep ancestors. Tunga (bark basket) was used by Murtankala to carry Purukuparli, Japara and Wai’ai to the surface of the earth. Mortality came to Tiwi people when Wai’ai’s husband Purukuparli went out hunting and Wai’ai was seduced by her brother-in-law Japara.
Tutini are burial poles used in the Pukumani ceremony. Michelle offers us 4 tutini in this body of work. Minimalist horizontal lines and blocks of ochre pigment allow the pigment and the form of her sculptures to do the heavy lifting. Pared back in comparison to her paintings on bark surfaces and canvases, her Tutini don’t need to be as loud; it is in the movement of the forms, sandy thick texture of ochre pigment and collective presence, that these works shine.
The decorative adornment in yoyi (dance) that are used to mark significant moments in Tiwi life and death cycles are rarely made publicly viewable. Formed with natural fibres and decorative feathers, these items are created to fit their owner and are worn during Pukumani. They are not made as often by Tiwi people because the processes are complex and labour-intensive, and due to their significance in private ceremonies they are not often recreated for public display either. Through her work in the museum and her desire to pay homage to her sister Rachel who taught her this practice, however, Michelle has begun to create these adornments again. It is an honour to have arm bands, headbands and a grass skirt generously included in this body of work. This is a deeply generous and precious offering to the public and I would argue that they are the highlight pieces because of their rarity.
My objective as a curator was to help Michelle produce an exhibition she would be proud of, and for this reason I began our conversations by asking her to write a list of what was important to her and her practice. It was mainly a list of people who taught her and places she is connected to. All of this is captured in her body of work and accompanying essay which can be found on the Uplands website [uplands.org.au]. It was important to me that Michelle and I work creatively in relation. Michelle should be formally acknowledged as a co-curator of this exhibition. This is from her, assisted by me.
This is Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni, In Relation….
Coby Edgar, Co-Curator.
YOYI (dance) (video still) 2020, 4-channel digital video, HD, colour, sound, Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association Artists
Courtesy of the Artist and Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association. Photo; Will Heathcote
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni
Michelle Woody is a strong Tiwi culture woman and artist whose distinct painting style is becoming increasingly recognised on a national level. She has shown in a range of exhibition formats, including coming runner up for the 2018 Summer Salon at Collins Place Gallery in Melbourne and the Rising Stars exhibition at Outstation in Darwin the following year. In 2020, she was awarded the King Wood Malleson Contemporary Indigenous Art Award. She often uses the distinct Tiwi pwoja (ironwood comb) to paint depictions of Murrakupupuni (Country), winga (saltwater) and jlamara (Tiwi body paint design).
Michelle moved from Pirlangimpi to Milikapiti in the 1980s, she attended high school at St John’s in Darwin and Slade in Brisbane. She has worked in counselling support for Indigenous Health, Relationships Australia and the Red Cross. In 2012 she started painting at Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association with her partner Nicholas Mario, whilst raising their three daughters.
Since joining Jilamara, Michelle has taken on key governance roles such as being elected President of the organization from 2020-2022, as well as a director on the ANKA Board (Association of Northern, Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists). She is an employed artsworker at Jilamara and oversees the Muluwurri Museum collection held at the art centre. In 2019 she completed a Specialist Certificate in Arts Conservation from the Grimwade Centre at the University of Melbourne. She was selected for the ANKA Artsworker Extension Program in 2018 and in 2019 was also invited to take part in the Wesfarmers Indigenous Leadership Program at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. Michelle has also published articles and essays on Tiwi art and culture, including for the National Gallery of Victoria’s TIWI exhibition publication in 2020.
Locally Sourced Ochre Pigment on Stringybark 640 x 500 x 330mm, POA, Sold as a set with #220-24
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Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni Tunga (Bag)
Locally Sourced Ochre Pigment on Ironwood 1900mm, POA, Sold as a set with #229-24 220-24
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni Tutini (Pukumani Pole)
Courtesy of the Artist and Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association. Photo; Will Heathcote
Sourced
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni Tutini (Pukumani Pole)
Locally
Ochre Pigment on Ironwood 1900mm, $8,000
Sourced
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni Tutini (Pukumani Pole)
Locally
Ochre Pigment on Ironwood 1470mm, $6,850
Sourced
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni Tutini (Pukumani Pole)
Locally
Ochre Pigment on Ironwood 1720mm, $7,400
Dimensions variable
POA, Special item please contact for more information
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni
Pamijini (arm bands and head band)
Dimensions variable
POA, Special item please contact for more information
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni
Pamijini amitiya Marriwiyi (arm bands, head band and grass skirt)
Locally Sourced Ochre on Linen
7500 x 1500mm
$46,750 (Sold as a set of 5)
- 24 - 225 - 24
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni
Ngiya Murrakupupuni
Locally Sourced Ochre on Linen
1500 x 1500mm
$46,750 (Sold as a set of 5)
- 24 - 225 - 24
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni
Ngiya Murrakupupuni
Locally Sourced Ochre on Linen
1500 x 1500mm
$46,750 (Sold as a set of 5)
- 24
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni
Ngiya Murrakupupuni
Locally Sourced Ochre on Linen
1500 x 1500mm
$46,750 (Sold as a set of 5)
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni
Ngiya Murrakupupuni
Locally Sourced Ochre on Linen
1500 x 1500mm
$46,750 (Sold as a set of 5)
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni
Ngiya Murrakupupuni
Locally Sourced Ochre on Linen
1500 x 1500mm
$46,750 (Sold as a set of 5)
-
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni
Ngiya Murrakupupuni
Courtesy of the Artist and Jilamara Arts and Crafts Association. Photo; Will Heathcote
Sourced
1230 x 760mm
$8,800
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni
Ngiya Murrakupupuni
Locally
Ochre on Stringybark
$8,400
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni
Ngiya Murrakupupuni
Locally Sourced Ochre on Stringybark 1100 x 580mm
$8,600
Michelle Pulatuwayu Woody Minnapinni
Ngiya Murrakupupuni
Locally Sourced Ochre on Stringybark 1290 x 700mm
