Artist Showcase | Tommy Pau

Clan groups:

Language groups: Torres Strait Creole

Robert (Tommy) Pau was born in Townsville in 1967. He is of the Samsep tribe of Erub in the Torres Strait. A printmaker, painter, educator and home tailor with an interest in fashion and textiles, Pau’s bloodline stems from cultural heritages that includes the Meriam of Erub, Australian Aboriginal, Papua New Guinean, Pacific Islander and Chinese.

Torres Strait cultural practices and values were instilled in him from an early age through his father, Ettie Pau (OAM), as well as other members of his family and the community. Pau has an unwavering commitment to keeping old traditions alive and believes culture must remain true to the past, while adapting to current conditions for it to exist into the future.  

Pau works across a range of media, using printmaking techniques as well as painting and sculpture to create works that depict historical and contemporary interpretations of different aspects of his culture. 

In 2022 Pau was awarded a Cairns RSL Club Artist Fellowship to produce a new body of work for his first solo exhibition at the Gallery entitled Ilan Oman. Specifically, Pau’s art explores how life was, and still is, practised in the Torres Strait, particularly through the matriarchal line. Four prints from the The Blooming flowers series were purchased from the exhibition for the Gallery’s Collection.

Pau’s works are represented in several major public and private collections in Australia. In 2016 he won the Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award for works on paper.

Pau is represented in Cairns Art Gallery’s online First Nation Research Archive developed as part of the Gallery’s online Resource Archive produced to celebrate the Gallery’s 30th anniversary.

Solo Exhibitions | Highlighted Works

Tommy Pau: Ilan Oman
25 May – 25 Aug 2024

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Robert (Tommy) PAU, Born 1967 Blooming flowers (Red), 2023, vinylcut print on paper, 148 x 76 cm, Printer: Theo Tremblay, Courtesy of the artist Robert (Tommy) PAU, Born 1967 Mother's Union, 2023, vinylcut print on paper, 156 x 76cm, Printer: Theo Tremblay, Courtesy of the artist Robert (Tommy) PAU, Born 1967 Zeuber irkep, 2024, vinylcut print on paper, 77 x 57cm, Printer: Theo Tremblay, Courtesy of the artist Robert (Tommy) PAU, Born 1967 Mohara, 2024, vinylcut print on paper, 156 x 76cm, Printer: Theo Tremblay, Courtesy of the artist Robert (Tommy) PAU, Born 1967 Under The Mat, 2023, vinylcut print on paper, 57 x 77 cm, Printer: Theo Tremblay, Courtesy of the artist Robert (Tommy) PAU, Born 1967 Two Sisters, 2024, vinylcut print on paper, 156 x 76 cm, Printer: Theo Tremblay, Courtesy of the artist

 

Group Exhibitions | Highlighted Works

ARTNOW FNQ 2022 
17 Dec 2022 – 12 Feb 2023

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Tommy Pau, Kol Sadh Sol (Blooming Flowers) N.D, vinyl-cut on paper, 179.0 x 100.0 cm. Courtesy of the artist

 

Collection Works

The Cairns Art Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work and live. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, names or voices of deceased persons in photographs, film or text.