Kitty Kantilla: First Lady of Tiwi Art
Kitty Kantilla (c. 1928–2003), a pioneering Tiwi artist, is celebrated for her profound connection to Tiwi culture and her remarkable contributions to Tiwi sculpture and painting. Born in Yimpinari on the eastern side of Melville Island, Kitty’s early life was deeply rooted in traditional practices. Growing up in a paperbark-roofed dwelling and living a bush tucker lifestyle, her childhood was shaped by the rhythms of the land. As an adult, she transitioned into the mission life on Bathurst Island, where she became part of a community receiving rations such as beef, flour, and tea. This fusion of traditional and colonial life would later inform her artistic expression.
In 1970, Kitty, along with several other Tiwi women, established a small outstation in her mother’s country at Paru on Melville Island, where she began to carve and paint. Here, she became part of the early Tiwi sculpting renaissancealongside other widowed women, many of whom became renowned for their ironwood sculptures of Purukupali and Bima—figures drawn from the Tiwi Dreamtime story of creation.
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Identifying the Art of Kitty Kantilla
Kitty Kantilla’s sculptures and paintings are easily distinguishable by several defining stylistic elements, making her works highly collectible and revered.
- Sculpture Style: Kitty’s ironwood carvings are characterized by a chunky, blocky form, with her figures often featuring wide, hexagonal-shaped noses and a strong, expressive face. Her sculptures typically depict ancestor figures from Tiwi mythology, often reflecting the Purukupali creation story. These figures are painted with dots and blocks of solid color, arranged in an abstract yet highly symbolic manner. Some of her works also include Pukumani posts and seabird motifs, which are crucial symbols in Tiwi cultural rites.
- Painting Style: Initially, Kitty’s paintings on bark and canvas reflected her connection to Pukumani ceremonybody paint designs, consisting of dots and lines arranged within geometric frameworks. She painted using a fine coconut palm frond stick rather than the traditional Tiwi pwoja (comb), earning her the nickname ‘Dot Dot’ for her inimitable hand. Over time, her style evolved: in the late 1990s, she began working with a white background, reversing her earlier color dynamics. By 2002, she incorporated large blocks of textured color punctuated by small dots and lines, creating compositions that mirrored the energetic movement of ceremonial dancers.
Kitty’s art remains deeply rooted in Tiwi culture, with the Purukupali and Bima myth central to her works. The narrative speaks to the origins of death in Tiwi cosmology and the first Pukumani (mortuary) ceremony, a profound ritual that still holds significance in Tiwi life today.
Artistic Evolution and Legacy
Kitty Kantilla’s art practice developed in tandem with the growth of the Tiwi art community. In the late 1970s, the Tiwi Pima Art enterprise was established in Nguiu (Bathurst Island), and in 1985, Tiwi Design was created to promote traditional Tiwi arts such as wood carving, bark painting, and weaving. Kitty’s art evolved alongside these institutional developments, and by the early 1990s, she moved to Milikapiti (Snake Bay), where she became more involved in painting on canvas and paper.
Though she is best known for her sculptures, Kitty Kantilla’s transition to painting later in life revealed her growing mastery over abstract forms and expression. Her works were not just about traditional designs, but also explored her personal reflections on change and the passing of the old ways, while grappling with the uncertainty of new traditions.
In 2000, Kitty participated in the prestigious Adelaide Biennale of Australian Art, and in 2002, she won the Works on Paper award at the Telstra National Indigenous Art Award with her painting Pumpuni Jilamara. Kitty’s later years were marked by a growing international reputation, bolstered by her exhibitions at Gabriella Roy’s Aboriginal and Pacific Gallery in Sydney, and in 2007, a posthumous retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, further solidifying her status as one of Australia’s most celebrated Indigenous artists.
Kitty was carving and painting around the same time as Declan Apuatimi, Mani Luki and Mick Aruni
Biography
Kitty Kantilla was born around 1928 at Yimpinari, on the eastern side of Melville Island, into a life steeped in the Tiwi cultural traditions. Her art was deeply influenced by her upbringing and the teachings of her father, from whom she inherited sacred designs used in the Pukumani ceremony. Kitty began her artistic journey in the 1970s, working alongside other pioneering Tiwi women in Paru, where she began creating her iconic ironwood sculptures and bark paintings.
In the 1990s, Kitty moved to Milikapiti (Snake Bay), where she continued to carve and paint, transitioning towards canvas and paper in her later years. Though she was initially hesitant to embrace printmaking, she eventually did so in 1995, and her lithographs were featured in several prominent exhibitions. Her work continues to be celebrated globally, and her legacy endures through the continued study and admiration of her culturally resonant artworks.
Kitty Kantilla passed away in 2003, leaving behind an exceptional body of work that continues to captivate and inspire collectors, curators, and art lovers around the world. Today, she is widely regarded as one of the last great keepers of traditional Tiwi iconography and a true innovator in the field of Aboriginal art.
Kitty Kantilla is also known as Purawarrumpatu Kutuwulumi
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Kitty Kantilla Images
The following is not a complete list of works but gives a very good idea of this artists style and variety.
