- Artist: Tommy Mitchell
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Artwork Story
Tommy Mitchell’s country is Ngaturn and Walu. He now lives in Warakurna with his family. He began to paint with Warakurna Artists in mid 2005 and has rapidly become one of its senior emerging artists. Tommy’s paintings depict tjukurrpa (dreaming) from his father’s and mother’s country. His paintings are about the stories he was told from childhood.
Tommy often speaks about his experiences of travelling around tali country (sandhills) with his family, ‘We lived in the bush, there was no hospital and no clothes and we were naked and it was cold. I hunted marlu, rabbit, tirnka (small goanna) and pussycat, it was good meat. We also collected tjarnmarta (bush onions), maku (bardi grubs) and kampurarrpa (bush raisins)’. When Tommy was small he went for a holiday and visited his cousin Peter Lewis. Both men now live in Warakurna with their families and both paint for Warakurna Artists.
Tommy Mitchell is a senior law man, participating in traditional ceremony and is instrumental in passing on his tjukurrpa to his family.