![Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by LILA WARRIMOU (MISASO) of Omie Artists. The title is Viojoje dehe, ije ridimë’e, vinohu’e (siha’u’e), vison’e ohu’o sabu ahe – Wings of the butterfly, jungle ladder, tattoo design of the bellybutton (fruit of the Sihe tree), eel-bone jewellery for initiation nasal septum piercings and spots of the wood-boring grub. [16-014] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth))](https://media.redotgallery.com/stockroom/gallery/v/viojoje-dehe-ije-ridimc3abe-vinohue-sihaue-visone-ohuo-sabu-ahe-wings-of-the-butterfly-jungle-4611.png)
LILA WARRIMOU (MISASO)
16-014
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)
Viojoje dehe, ije ridimë’e, vi… | 16-014
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkclot…
96 x 67cm | 37.8 x 26.38in (irregular)
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Lila has painted a very rare painting design. These traditional designs were taught to her by one of her ‘mothers’ (her aunt), Joyce-Bella Mujorumo, former Duvahe (Chief) of Dahorurajé clan women.
The border and the irregular square frames are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the designs.
The conjoined concentric circles are viojoje dehe, the wings of the butterfly.
The stem/leaf-like designs are ije ridimë’e, the customary jungle ladder which is used to climb tall trees to collect fruit and set traps for hunting birds. This jungle ladder is mentioned several times throughout the Ömie creation stories.
The vertical lines of diamonds are the men’s tattoo design of the bellybutton, vinohu’e, representing siha’u’e, the fruit of the sihe tree. Lila explains how in the time of the ancestors during times of tribal warfare, the Ömie male warriors had no food while they were defending their borders in the forest far from their villages so they survived by chewing the sihe fruit, swallowing the juice and then they would spit out the pulp.
The sawtooth lines of triangles represent vison’e, jewellery for the nasal septum made from a small eel bone in the time of the Ancestors. In more recent times the vison’e is fashioned from the chest-bone of a tubor’e (Dwarf Cassowary). This piercing was a very important part of the Ömie initiation rite for boys and girls known as the ujawé. The ujawé initiation rites of piercing and tattooing were performed in underground chambers known as guai.
The black triangles within the orriseegé frames are mahuva’oje, the hoofprints of a mischievous pig that has wreaked havoc on a garden.
The border and the irregular square frames are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the designs.
The conjoined concentric circles are viojoje dehe, the wings of the butterfly.
The stem/leaf-like designs... Read More