Timothy Cook

Aboriginal artist, Timothy Cook began exhibiting his work in the late 1990’s in group shows around Australia including Darwin, Melbourne, Alice Springs and Perth.

His work depicts the body designs used in the Pukamani ceremony, the traditional Tiwi burial ceremony, one of the cornerstones of the Tiwi’s traditional belief.

His art is also closely linked to stories of Purrukuparli, the Tiwi mythological ancestor and is characterised by a geometric structure of lines and dots with every line and marking having an important meaning. These geometric patterns, common in all 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.
Collections
The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Group Exhibitions
1999 Great Icons of Aboriginal Art National Gallery of Vic.Melbourne. 1998 Ngawa Mantawi -Mossensen Gallery Perth.
1998 The Old and the New Gallery Gondawana NT.
1997 Old Tiwi Alcaston Gallery, Melbourne.
1997 Old Designs Framed Gallery Darwin NT
Bibliography
Bennett J; 1992, ‘Ngingawula Jilamara Kapi Purunguparri (Our paintings on bark), ‘ Gallery Monthly magazine of the National Galleryof Victoria September.
1993, The Body Tiwi Aboriginal Art from Melville and Bathurst Islands, exhib.cat;The National Gallery,University of Tasmania, Launceston.
1994,Art of the Tiwi from the Collection of the National Gallery of Victoria,exhib.cat., National Gallery of Victoria,Melbourne