Cornelia Tipuamantumirri was born in Pirlangimpi (Garden Point), Melville Island in circa 1930. Her father’s ancestral country is Imalu Point, Melville Island and mother’s ancestral country is Munupi, Melville Island. Her skin group is Warntarringa (Sun) and her Dreaming Jarrikalani (Turtle). Tipuamantumirri lives and works at Pirlangimpi where she is a respected Tiwi elder and a member of Munupi Arts & Crafts Association.
Tipuamantumirri uses the kayimwagakimi, a traditional carved wooden painting comb with a single row of teeth. Using an ochre palette of pinks, yellows, blacks and browns, her work depicts significant aspects of Tiwi life and culture with repeated dotted lines referring to yirrinkiripwoja (body painting) and the tidal movements of the surrounding seas.
Tipuamantumirri, who began painting in 2010, is also a skilled weaver.
