Peter Goloou Thomas / Juwari – The Devil Spirit, the Old Lady and the Snake (19621)

Peter Goloou Thomas was born in 1975 in Wyndham, Western Australia, and grew up on Gija Country in the East Kimberley. His father, Paddy Thomas, passed away when Peter was still a young boy, and much of his upbringing was guided by his mother, Mary Thomas, and by the respected Warmun elders Madigan and Sandy Thomas.

Peter’s mother, Mary, was renowned in the community as a gifted bush medicine expert and healer. She carried an extraordinary depth of knowledge of Gija Country, knowing the plants, their names, medicinal properties, preparation and use. Her wisdom and cultural teachings left a profound impression on Peter and continue to inspire both his life and his art.

As a child, Peter and his brothers were often taken out bush by the old people. These trips sometimes lasted weeks and were a vital part of their education. They learned language, Ngarrangkarni (Dreaming) stories, songs and dance, as well as the skills needed to live on Country, including tracking, reading the land, survival skills and traditional bush medicine. Peter’s cultural journey began early; at just five years old, he performed Joonba for the first time during celebrations for the opening of the Warmun school.

Today, Peter is a cultural leader within his community, committed to passing on the knowledge, traditions and stories entrusted to him. He continues to guide younger generations and share Gija culture and Law. This commitment also extends beyond his art. Through Goloou Tours, Peter leads cultural tagalong tours through Warmun Country, taking visitors to significant places and sharing Dreaming stories, local history, bush tucker traditions and knowledge of Country.

Peter and two of his brothers also served their country as members of the all-Gija Warmun Patrol within Kimberley Squadron, NORFORCE. In 2019, nine Gija veterans were formally recognised for their service and retrospectively awarded the Australian Defence Force Medal and Australian Operational Service Medal at a special ceremony in Warmun. The recognition followed years of advocacy by Major Mac Jensen OAM RFD JP and war hero Keith Payne VC AM, who personally pinned the medals on the Gija veterans.

Peter began his individual painting career in March 2024 and quickly established himself as a distinctive new voice in contemporary Gija art. His work has a raw, naïve energy that feels immediate and unfiltered, characterised by bold forms, strong silhouettes, natural ochres and dotted borders. His paintings encompass Joonba and Gurrir Gurrir ceremony, Juwari (Devil Spirit) figures, Ngarrangkarni stories, massacre histories and the landscapes of Gija Country. Increasingly, Peter has also painted the Country associated with both sides of his family, including Alice Downs and Birrno Country through his mother Mary, Bedford Downs through his father Paddy, and the places around Warmun where he was raised.

Peter also continues to honour the memory of his late mother through paintings of the Country, stories and knowledge she shared with him. His deeply personal connection to these subjects, combined with an instinctive and immediately recognisable painting style, has attracted strong interest from collectors since the beginning of his career.

Peter received national recognition almost immediately. In 2024, his portrait of senior Gija Elder Patrick Mung Mung was selected as a finalist in The Lester Prize. In the same year, Peter collaborated with his brothers Richard and Owen Thomas and fellow Gija artist and veteran Mark Nodea on From Massacres to Medals: A Story of Redemption and Recognition. The monumental ochre triptych, telling the story of Gija experience from the Killing Times through to military service and recognition, was Highly Commended in the 2024 Napier Waller Art Prize and exhibited at Australian Parliament House.

His momentum continued in 2025 when he was selected for Outstation Gallery’s annual Rising Stars exhibition in Darwin. Later that year, his work Leave No One Behind – A Journey of Two-Way Healing was included in Outstation Gallery’s Salon des Refusés, and Peter was selected as a finalist in the 47th Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award.

In 2026, Peter was included in Jiwibany Marjad Wardam Purru (The Morning Star is the Leader for All the Stars) at Outstation Gallery in Darwin, a major exhibition of Gija men from Warmun Art Centre led by senior Elder Patrick Mung Mung.

In August 2026, Newstead Art in Sydney presented Madigan & Peter Thomas, bringing together paintings from the estate of the late Madigan Jowoodjil Thomas with a new body of work by Peter. The exhibition holds particular significance for Peter, who was raised and taught by Madigan and her husband Sandy. It received an immediate response from collectors, with approximately two-thirds of Peter’s works selling on the opening night.

In a remarkably short period, Peter has developed a distinctive and immediately recognisable artistic voice, grounded in his deep knowledge of Gija Country, culture and family history. His paintings bring together personal memory, ancestral stories and lived experience, carrying forward the teachings entrusted to him by his mother, Madigan and Sandy Thomas, and other senior Gija people. As his practice continues to evolve, Peter remains deeply committed to sharing these stories and ensuring that Gija knowledge, Law and culture are carried forward for future generations.

SELECTED AWARDS & EXHIBITIONS

• 2026 – Madigan & Peter Thomas, Newstead Art, Sydney, NSW
• 2026 – Jiwibany Marjad Wardam Purru (The Morning Star is the Leader for All the Stars), Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT
• 2025 – Salon des Refusés, Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT
• 2025 – Finalist, 47th Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award, Fremantle, WA
• 2025 – Rising Stars, Outstation Gallery, Darwin, NT
• 2024 – Highly Commended, Napier Waller Art Prize, Australian War Memorial / Australian Parliament House, Canberra, ACT
• 2024 – Finalist, The Lester Prize, Perth, WA

In this dramatic series, Peter explores the story of Juwari – the Devil Spirit, along with the Old Lady and the Snake. The paintings carry forward an important Gija narrative that speaks of power, ceremony and the forces that shape both land and life.

Juwari is a formidable spirit being – a presence of both creation and disruption, tied to the energies of Country, the seasons, and the shifting elements. The story, as shared by senior Gija Elder Patrick Mung and cultural leader Jane Yalunga (now deceased, daughter of the renowned Rover Thomas), tells of three Juwari spirits: one from Wyndham, one from Gija Country, and one from further south. Each carried its own Joonba (ceremonial dance). They came together to prove which one held the strongest song and power.

The Gija Juwari prevailed, leading to the birth of Gurrir Gurrir – a major song and dance ceremony that was given to Rover Thomas in a dream. This marked the beginning of one of the most significant cultural movements in Gija history.

Peter’s raw and instinctive style – with its bold ochre forms, dotted borders and expressive figures – conveys the drama of this contest and the enduring presence of these ancestral beings. The Old Lady and the Snake, both powerful figures within the story, embody wisdom, warning and transformation, weaving their way across the composition.

Through these paintings, Peter honours the strength of ancestral law, the vitality of Joonba, and the continuing connection between land, spirit and people. Each work becomes more than an image on canvas: it is a visual echo of ceremony and story still alive on Gija Country.