Raelene Kerinauia Lampuwatu

Raelene was born on Bathurst Island and raised by her grandmother. Her older brother Vivian is also a painter. Raelene began designing screens for fabric printing in 1985 as part of the adult education program in Milikapiti. She started painting when the Jilamara Arts and Crafts Centre was established in 1989. Initially, she used brushes with ochres, but since 1999, she has employed the traditional painting techniques using the kayimwagakini, a comb used for ceremonial body painting, typically made from bloodwood or ironwood.

Raelene was inspired to use the traditional technique of kayimwagakini after watching the young and emerging artist Pedro Wonaeamirri and viewing older pole carvings by the late Tiwi carver Sugarbag Kapiti at the National Museum in Canberra. The creation of the comb itself is a skill, and Raelene's late husband, James Tipiloura, a carver with Jilamara Arts, carved the combs for her work.

"I paint with the kayimwagakini or comb, sometimes called pwoja, which also means bone. The painting comb is made from ironwood, part of the tree, and is used to paint on the body, on pukumani poles, and on bark. My partner made me my comb; he was an artist, a great carver, and I used to paint his carvings and tutini (pukumani poles). He passed away not long ago. I use ochres from the Tiwi Islands for my painting, and I mainly just use my comb. Only sometimes do I use a brush. This is how I feel like painting. I started using the comb in the nineties. I decided to paint with the comb. I use one colour at a time."

Raelene's compositions are personal creative expressions without literal meanings, but they do relate to body painting and designs for pukumani poles. These designs are not inherited; they are imaginative yet traditional. Raelene plans her compositions while the canvas is still blank. By the time she has painted the base color, she knows where her other colors will be placed to create the final effect.

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) has quite a collection of Raelene's paintings.