TIMOTHY COOK, Jilamara - Body Design, 2002

TIMOTHY COOK Tiwi language, born 1958 Jilamara - Body Design, 2002 ochre on canvas 74 x 57.5 cm stamped verso: Jilamara Arts & Crafts; Lawson~Menzies label adhered verso PROVENANCE Jilamara Arts & Crafts, Northern Territory, Cat No. 404-02 Lawson~Menzies, Aboriginal Art Auction, Sydney, New South Wales, 23 November 2004, Lot 249 Private Collection, New South Wales Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Jilamara Arts & Crafts Born on Melville Island, Timothy Cook is recognised as one of the most significant contemporary Tiwi painters. He began painting in the mid-1990s after joining a group of Tiwi artists who travelled to the South Australian Museum to study the bark paintings collected by anthropologist Charles Mountford during his 1954 National Geographic expedition to the Tiwi Islands. Inspired by these historic works, Cook developed a bold contemporary visual language that has established him as one of the most innovative interpreters of traditional Tiwi design. Cook's paintings are deeply connected to Kulama, the important Tiwi yam ceremony that marks the transition of young men into adulthood. Performed over three days during the early dry season, the ceremony takes place around a circular fire pit beneath the full moon, whose halo signals the appropriate time for the ritual. The recurring circular forms in Cook's paintings evoke both the moon and the ceremonial ground, while also referencing the enduring cycle of life, death and renewal that lies at the heart of Tiwi cosmology. Working predominantly in natural earth pigments, Cook is renowned for his expressive, gestural application of paint and his confident, instinctive compositions. His paintings reinterpret jilamara (ceremonial body designs), traditionally painted onto the body for Kulama and Pukumani (funeral) ceremonies. While grounded in collective Tiwi cultural knowledge, each work reflects Cook's distinctive artistic voice, balancing ancient tradition with a striking contemporary aesthetic. A frequent finalist in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards before winning the prestigious award in 2012, Timothy Cook's works are held in major public and private collections and are widely regarded as among the finest expressions of contemporary Tiwi art. © TIMOTHY COOK / Copyright Agency, 2026

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