Minyawe Miller

Born in the pujiman (traditional, desert dwelling) days, Martu man Minyawe Miller grew up travelling across the Country around Punmu with his family. As a young man, Miller walked across great stretches of this Country carrying only his tajitaji (smouldering stick) and jurna (hunting stick). Travelling between water sources, Miller and his family hunted and collected bush foods such as warmula (bush tomatoes), emu and marlu (kangaroo) as they went.

Hearing of other pujiman people settling in missions and communities across the Eastern Pilbara, Miller and his family walked in to Jigalong mission. Here, Miller met his wife Nancy Chapman, also an artist.
An excellent horseman, Miller worked for many years on pastoral stations across the Pilbara, breaking horses and building roads by hand. Miller now lives in Punmu with his wife and extended family.

Miller is a formidable painter, his work recognisable by his decisive use of line and colour. Contorted squares are a recurrent symbol in Miller’s work, representing the waterholes and soakages he walked between as a young man in pujiman times. Other works feature luminescent tracks of dots that seem to pulsate, transporting the viewer across the shimmering tali (sandhills) of the Western Desert.