Graham Tipungwuti Tiwi, Australia, b. 1962

Graham Tipungwuti creates Tiwi-style still life paintings of familiar items found in the Wurrumiyanga community – drink cans, soft drink bottles, powdered milk and biscuits. Working primarily on stringybark, these works explore the complexities of contemporary Tiwi life. 

Graham has also produced ironwood carvings of birds, heads and faces, and the occasional ancestral figure of Purrukipali. His sculptures and other art works have been shown at several pivotal Ngaruwanajirri shows since joining the centre. 

Significant exhibitions where his work appeared include ‘Works on Paper’ touring exhibition with Art Back Nets 1996-2000; “Tayikuwapi” Ngaruwanajirri Group Exhibition in Batchelor NT, 2002; Supreme Court Darwin. N.T., Ngaruwanajirri Group Exhibition, Darwin Festival, 2006 and Ngaruwanajirri: helping one another` CDU art gallery 2011. This latter show was a historic retrospective exhibition of works by all of the Ngaruwanajirri artists. 

In 2022 Graham (as part of a collaborative group of carvings) with Gordon Pupangamirri, Barry Kantilla, and David Tipuamantumirri, “First Death on the Tiwi Islands”, was selected for the Wynne Prize in 2022. 

Graham was a finalist in the 2025 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Art Awards with a stringybark painting Yinkiti Jilamara [Food Design].