Segar Passi

I was born on Mer Island (Murray) in the Eastern Torres Straits on the 3rd of September, 1942 into the Dauareb Tribe. I paint seascapes, landscapes and portraits. I am essentially self-taught and have been an artist since my early childhood years.

From very early in my childhood I possessed a natural ability and a deep desire to express myself through my painting. As a young boy I used charcoal and a variety of crushed stones mixed with saltwater to create my colours, and dried pandanus fruit as brushes. Clam shells became my paint containers and I used the milk from certain island weeds mixed with charcoal to make temporary body tattoos. Many of my early water colours were done on large flat rocks that I found locally.

At primary school I realised that I had artistic talent when in art class my fellow students would pass me their slates and asked me to complete their art class assignments. My favourite subjects at that time were “superman” (my comic book hero), boats flowers and fish.

It was “down south” on mainland Australia that I first began to use oil colours. Whilst completing a “textile course” at the Darwin TAFE in 1995 I exhibited a painting which reminded me of my wonderful Island life. I remember it well. The subject was a man standing by the shore scooping sardines from the water whilst his wife watched on from the sandy beach. Segar Passi

Passi, who as a child taught himself to paint, has been making art for over six decades. In the 1960s he was one of eight Torres Strait Island artists asked by anthropologist Margaret Lawrie to record, in paintings and drawings, the history, culture, flora and fauna of the Torres Strait.

The young Passi made more than 135 remarkable watercolours and sketches for Lawrie’s project. Some were depictions of bird and marine life, while others told stories passed down to the artist by his elders on Mer (Murray Island).

The only surviving contributor to Margaret Lawrie’s landmark cultural project, Passi is now in his seventies but he has never lost his passion for painting. One of his particular interests, as an artist and as a cultural custodian, is weather conditions, and their importance in the lives of his people. He has devoted much time to communicating this knowledge to children on Mer, and many of his pictures are themed around weather.

Segar Passi’s paintings, with their bold colours and directness of form and composition, are in some ways evocative of naive art, yet they possess a unique character that defies categorisation. And, while having a strong place within the artistic traditions of the Torres Strait, they are also recognised as outstanding works of contemporary art.
Collections
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane Qld.
Queensland Art Gallery GOMA, Brisbane Qld.
Individual Exhibitions
2014 Bakei 1960s to Present, Cairns Regional Gallery, Cairns Qld.
Group Exhibitions
2015 The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery/GOMA, Brisbane Qld.
2015 Gab Titui Indigenous Art Awards (Commended), Gab Titui, Thursday Island Qld.
2013 Gab Titui Indigenous Art Awards, Gab Titui, Thursday Island Qld.
2012 Gab Titui Indigenous Art Awards (Winner), Gab Titui, Thursday Island Qld.
2011 Gab Titui Indigenous Art Awards (Highly Commended), Gab Titui, Thursday Island Qld.
2011 Land, Sea and Sky: Contemporary Art of the Torres Strait Islands, Queensland Art Gallery/GOMA, Brisbane Qld.
2010 Margaret Lawrie Exhibition, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane Qld.
2009 Gab Titui Indigenous Art Awards (Highly Commended), Gab Titui, Thursday Island Qld.
2008 Gab Titui Indigenous Art Awards (Commended), Gab Titui, Thursday Island Qld.
Awards
2015 Gab Titui Indigenous Art Awards (Commended)
2012 Gab Titui Indigenous Art Awards (Winner)
2011 Gab Titui Indigenous Art Awards (Highly Commended)
2009 Gab Titui Indigenous Art Awards (Highly Commended)
2008 Gab Titui Indigenous Art Awards (Commended)
Bibliography
The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery/GOMA exhibition catalogue
Bakei 1960s to Present, Cairns Regional Gallery exhibition catalogue 2014
Land, Sea and Sky: Contemporary Art of the Torres Strait Islands, Queensland Art Gallery/GOMA exhibition catalogue 2011
Myths and Legends of Torres Strait, Margaret Lawrie, University of Queensland Press 1970