The lines that run in both directions through Jessie’s work are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the design. Inside the bands of orriseegé is...
The lines that run in both directions through Jessie’s work are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the design. Inside the bands of orriseegé is the diamond design siha’e, representing the fruit of the sihe tree. The siha’e design is sometimes also called vinohu’e, the men’s tattoo design of the bellybutton. Sihe is a yellow fruit found in the rainforest and often eaten by cassowaries. In the time of the ancestors during times of tribal warfare, the Ömie male warriors had no food while they were defending their borders in the forest far from their villages so they survived by chewing the sihe fruit, swallowing the juice and then they would spit out the pulp. The key design within the bands is known as obohutaigué and represents a pattern seen on the bark of a tree. This is traditional soru’e, a tattoo design taught to her by her father Albert Sirimi (Nanati).