Elvina was taught this design by her mother, the late Mary Naumo, who was a former Chief of Ematé clan women and a highly respected barkcloth artist. This design is savani degirani, representing the hip-bones of the mountain frog. The concentric circles represent the hip-joint. Observations of the natural world are a major facet of Ömie barkcloth painting designs. This not only applies to the outer world that is most commonly seen—the Ömie also look inside the natural world as if to uncover internal geometries, ostensibly of a more secret and intimate knowledge of their natural and sacred environment, to an inner world within a world. Dapeni Jonevari, Chief of Ematé clan women, was a close friend and peer of Mary Naumo and explains how this design was inspired when a woman ancestor was eating a frog and saw the hip-joint bones.
The border is known as orriseegé or ‘pathway’ and provides a compositional framework for the designs. The or’e (path) designs are ancient and originate from the time of the Ancestors and relate to the intricate footpaths that run through food gardens and garden plots. Within the outer border is the black zigzag/sawtooth design called dahoru’e, Ömie mountains. This design relates to the sacred ancestral geography of Ömie territory.
Text courtesy Ömie Artists.