Janice Murray

Artist Janice Murray comes from Tinganuy country on Melville Island, the larger of the two Tiwi islands, situated off the coast north of Darwin.

Although she is one of the youngest of the practising Tiwi artists, her work has already been exhibited widely all over Australia since 1995. Her painting depicts 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.

Her art is also closely linked to stories of Purrukuparli, the Tiwi mythological ancestor and is 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.

In 1996 she was commissioned to make etchings for the Crown Casino in Melbourne and the Australian Print Workshop.