• Bush Holiday Dreaming
  • Bush Holiday Dreaming

Leon Russell Black

Bush Holiday Dreaming

  
My paintings are about my country, my landscape, my culture, my family and the Tiwi people of Pirlangimpi and their way of life. In my paintings I speak about going fishing, hunting and gathering. Like going in the mangrove to collect Jukwarringa (Mud Mussels), Kurumpuka (Mud Crabs), Piranga (Long Bum) and Yuwurli (Mangrove Worms). I like going fishing: I am really good at seeing the ripples on the surface of the water, it tells me that the Miputuwi (fishes) are there, and I can spear them really good. The other day I got a really big Barramundi like that. I am a really good fisherman and hunter. My dreaming is Narringarri (Magpie Geese). From my father side my country is Jurrupi (Jessie River) – there are really big oysters there, and in the shallow waters we can get turtles and dugong also. When I was a little boy I went fishing, hunting, and goose shooting with my Dad, he is a really good skipper and I learnt from him. From my mother side my country is Yapalika (Maxwell Creek).

  • Natural ochres on Stringybark
  • Dimensions: 40cm x 30cm
  • Cat No. 25-346


Leon Russell Black is a Tiwi artist from Munupi Arts & Crafts Association on Melville Island. He paints exclusively with natural ochres—red, yellow, and white on black backgrounds—depicting his life in Pirlangimpi in the traditional Tiwi style. "I can tell everything about my life in Pirlangimpi, paint all these things in the Tiwi way, in my way, my own way," he says. A finalist in the 2021 Telstra NATSIAA and 2021 Churchie Emerging Artist Prize, he exhibited solo as Pujurrupi at Tineriba Fine Arts (Hahndorf, SA, 2019) and at Melbourne Art Fair 2024. Group shows include Sydney Contemporary 2023 and Wynne Prize finalist 2024. He also featured in Hadley's Art Prize.


Munupi Arts & Crafts Association is located along Melville Islands north-western coastline at Pirlangimpi (Garden Point) and is the most recently formed art centre on the Tiwi Islands. In 1990 the Yikikini Women’s Centre and Pirlangimpi Pottery were incorporated under the name Munupi Arts and Crafts Association giving local artists an opportunity to proudly celebrate Tiwi culture through both traditional and contemporary mediums. Eddie Puruntatameri was the first president of Munupi Arts and Crafts. Eddie worked at Tiwi Pottery at Nguiu for many years until he moved to Pirlangimpi in late 1983 and set up a pottery workshop in the community. The first major works at Munupi were several large mural panels. The painted panels were placed around the community at Pirlangimpi Airport, the Council Office, Pirlangimpi Pottery and at the Women’s Centre. Artists who contributed to this project were Thelca Puruntatameri, Reppie Orsto, Fatima Kantilla, Donna Burak, Francesca Puruntatameri and Therese Ann Tipiloura. The first Munupi Arts and Crafts exhibition ‘Munupi Dreaming’ was held in October 1990 at Shades of Ochre, Darwin. The exhibition included painted furniture, paintings, limited edition prints and terracotta pots. Munupi artists have continued to exhibit both within Australia and internationally. Many artists from Munupi Arts and Craft have participated in workshops at the art centre and abroad. Drawing inspiration from their natural lush environment and Tiwi creation stories, Munupi artists employ ochres, gouache and acrylic paint. Munupi Arts and Crafts are also highly regarded for the diversity of their range of works including painting, pottery, carving, weaving, screen prints, etchings, linocut prints, lithographs and screen printed textiles.


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