The Black Woman of Paradise

Introducing The Black Woman of Paradise.

Who is she? Who are they? Allow me to explain the idea behind the creation of this piece.

Papua New Guinea is turning 50. But as we prepare to mark half a century of so-called independence, we must confront a brutal truth, our women are still not free.

We live in a country where being a woman is dangerous. Not just in public, but in her own home. She can be raped in the middle of the night while her family listens. She can be dragged out, beaten, stripped of her dignity, and no one will be arrested. Her body can be found tossed in drains, discarded like waste. Some are hidden away for days, brutalised in silence, because she dared to speak, or dress how she liked, or simply exist.

There are women walking among us, heads down, shoulders bruised, who are surviving horrors we don't talk about enough. What does independence mean, if more and more of our women are being buried with their stories untold?

This piece is in black, white, and gold. It pays tribute to The Black Woman – Rosa, a work I created in memory of my mother, and in honour of the many PNG women who continue to suffer. Rosa told the story of a woman burnt alive under the weight of false accusations and unchecked violence. It told the story of survival, of power, of a woman who has every reason to break, but still rises.

This new work is not Rosa’s replacement. This is her continuation.

The figure you see isn’t named, but you know her. She could be your sister, your cousin, a woman in the village, a girl on a PMV. She is every Papua New Guinean woman who has ever been overlooked, overworked and undervalued. She is the Black Woman of Paradise.

Drawn in black and white, she carries the weight of a nation. Her body is marked with rivers, mountains and tribal patterns. These patterns are not just decoration. They are maps of places she’s walked, off burdens she’s carried, off the country she is made from. Her skin is a living canvas of survival.

A bilum falls from the back of her head to her spine, symbolising the weight she carries for everyone else. On her arms, instead of leaves, sit the long plumes of the bird of paradise. Where others see beauty, she wears strength. Her armband is not an accessory, it’s a reminder of what is rare, regal, and worth protecting.

Around her neck are kina shells, plated with gold leaf. For centuries they were a symbol of value. In this piece, they still are. Her value has never changed, we just need to be reminded of it. And on her head, perhaps the most significant part of this work, are four bird of paradise feathers, shaped like the sails of lakatois. One for each of Papua New Guinea’s four regions. Not because she belongs to one place, but because she carries all of them with her. Her thoughts, her decisions, her strength, it is never just for her. It is always for all.

Her headdress is the most detailed I’ve ever created in my body of work, and it had to be. It is too often that we forget the complexity, the power, and the quiet intelligence of the women who hold this country together, unacknowledged.

You’ll see plant and leaf patterns across her body. Life, not just from the womb, but from her hands, her labour, her love. She gives life from every part of herself.

Leading up to our nation’s 50th Independence, we’re being told to celebrate. But how do we do that while women are still being murdered with no justice? How do we clap for freedom when our mothers and daughters still walk in fear? How do we raise flags when we’ve buried so many Rosas in silence?

This piece does not offer answers. But it demands better questions.

She has no name, but she has an identity. Her name is the same name as the woman viewing this piece. That’s her name. She is you. She is Rosa. She is Mama Graun. She is bush meri, mountain meri, solwara meri. She is every PNG woman who carries her tribe in one hand, and her dreams in the other.

She represents the call to revisit who we are as a people, and who we’ve forgotten in the process. Now, 50 years on, we must reposition the PNG woman to win. We cannot move forward as a country until we make space for her to rise.

Papua New Guinea will never be the paradise it claims to be unless we make room for the Black Woman of Paradise to live, lead, and be protected at all costs.

NOTE: 25% of proceeds from this sale will go to a charity supporting women and women's rights advocacy in PNG.

You can also purchase a limited edition canvas print of this work HERE.

Dimensions:
182cm (h) x 121cm (w)

Medium:
Posca pen, acrylic and gold leaves on cotton duck canvas.

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