The border and lines that run through the work are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the design. The circular motifs intersected by zig-zags are...
The border and lines that run through the work are known as orriseegé or ‘pathways’ and provide a compositional framework for the design. The circular motifs intersected by zig-zags are amurelavahe’e, a design Ömie people paint on their faces during times of dancing. The small red diamonds at their centres are siha’e, the fruit of the sihe tree. 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 zig-zags (taigu taigu’e – pattern of a leaf) and curls (jö’o sor’e – uncurling fern fronds) are more generally known as sin’e sor’e. Pauline-Rose is one of the foremost painters of these old tattoo designs having learnt from her father Willington Uruhé, the Paramount Chief of Ömie men, since she was a small girl. The spots within the amurelavahe’e design are sabu deje, representing the spots which can be seen on the sides of a wood-boring grub. This grub is sacred to Ömie people as it plays an important part within the creation story of how Huvaemo (Mount Lamington) came to be volcanic. It is a traditional soru’e (tattoo design) which was most commonly tattooed running in one line under both eyes. Today it is applied to Ömie people’s faces for dance performances with natural pigments.