Lillias Bujava (Kausara) Papua New Guinean, Omie, b. 1977

Lillias Bujava (Kausara) has quickly become one of the most accomplished artists amongst a new generation of Omie barkcloth painters. She utilises an array of traditional Sahuote clan designs, experimenting with repetitious and often highly complex compositions within the oriseege (pathways). Combined with her exacting application of coloured pigments, she creates hypnotic visual effects with a wholly unique vitality and dynamism. Her work was included in Wisdom of the mountain: Art of the Omie at the national Gallery of Victoria International. To mark the opening of the landmark exhibition Lillias, along with her husband the master Sahuote songman Raphael Bujava and her son Ian, she performed a traditional jo'erramo ohu'o javavamo (song and dance) to a delighted audience.