Spokes, handlebars and frame: artist Alfonso Puautjimi maps out a bicycle on a backdrop of black with studied precision. Heavily laden brush in hand, the 54-year-old applies coloured ochre in thick strokes. It is a unique style that's won him a coveted spot amongst 72 finalists in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award (NATSIAA), exhibited at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.
"There is this beautiful joy to his work," NATSIAA selection panelist Rebekah Raymond explains. "I think it's that idea of taking a glimpse of something from the everyday, and then rendering it in beautiful natural ochres, it's such a special thing." Alfonso Puautjimi's "Grey Bike" is on display at the Museum and Art of the Northern Territory as part of the 2024 NATSIAA exhibition.
Source: NITV / Laetitia Lemke Alfonso Puautjimi paints from an NDIS-supported art centre in Wurrumiyanga on the Tiwi Islands, called Ngaruwanajirri. "Ngaruwanajirri means helping one another," Art centre chairman Ken Wayne Kantilla explains. "[Alfonso Puautjimi] does very good work, he enjoys doing painting, same like all my clients," he says motioning around the room to half a dozen other artists, who nod and respond 'kuwa', the Tiwi word for yes.
"Some of the [clients] have worked here a long time now ...
30 years," Mr Kanitlla says. The bicycle that features in many of Alfonso Puautjimi's creations belongs to Ngaruwanajirri co-founder Joy Naden. Source: NITV / Emma Kellaway The bicy.
