This painting honours the Gurrir Gurrir ceremony, an important cultural tradition of the East Kimberley revealed to the late Rover Thomas through a series of dreams in 1975. The ceremony follows the journey of a woman’s spirit across the Kimberley, connecting significant places, ancestral beings and communities through song, dance and painted ceremonial boards.
In this work, Peter depicts the owl figure associated with the Gurrir Gurrir ceremony, shown with its wings fully outstretched. The strong golden form sits against deep red and black ochres, framed by Peter’s distinctive white dot work, giving the owl a powerful and commanding presence.
Peter has a strong personal connection to Gurrir Gurrir, having participated in the ceremony himself, dancing and carrying the painted boards during performances. His painting continues a visual tradition established by the senior Warmun artists and ceremonial leaders who came before him.
Through this work, Peter honours the cultural knowledge held within Gurrir Gurrir and the generations of Gija people who have kept the ceremony, its imagery and its stories alive.