Ken Wayne Kantilla

Born 1967
Skin Group Warnarringa / Sun
Dance Pikipiki / Pig
Language: Tiwi

Mother`s Country Wurankuwu, Bathurst Island, N.T.
Father`s Country Wangarruwu, Bathurst Island, N.T.

Ken Wayne Kantilla is a Tiwi artist living on Bathurst Island In the Northern Territory. He is known for his finely detailed jilamara (designs) on paper and canvas.

Ken’s artwork is characterised by his exceptional skill in painting lines by hand. These lines create a rippled geometric rhythm within his paintings, at times including motifs from daily Tiwi life including animals and cultural objects.

Although his lines are extremely precise, the slight irregularity reveals the painstaking handcraft of his work.

Ken’s unique style is enhanced by his exclusive use of natural Tiwi ochres on canvas and Saunders Waterford paper, and more recently stringybark.

His meticulous attention to detail and dedication to his craft has earned him a well-deserved reputation as a skilled and respected artist.

Ken’s artwork has been showcased in galleries and exhibitions across Australia and is held in many private collections.

Ken says “I enjoy painting jilamara (Tiwi pattern and design). To me it represents family and Tiwi culture painting in ochres – red, yellow, white on titiwini (black). Painting in the ochres keeps our culture strong, connects me to Country. My jilamara comes from the old ways of body painting for ceremony like kulama (men’s business at the end of the wet season).”