Eileen Tep is a Jirrbal woman of the Davidson Road area. She is based in the Jumbun Aboriginal Community of the Murray Upper area, North-West of Cardwell, Queensland.  

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Eileen is a skilled weaver of Mindi, Gundula and Jawun bicornual baskets. She is also an emerging painter and ceramicist. Eileen learnt her weaving skills from her Mother.

 

When creating baskets, Eileen collects lawyer cane from the rainforest at the Jumbun community, removes the spiky outer ‘skin’ of the cane and prepares the cane from splitting by passing it through the fire. The cane is then finely split and woven into the necessary shape with great accuracy. 

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Eileen’s work is inspired by traditions and the environment of her rainforest ancestors. An award winning artist, Eileen has received The Cairns Airport Innovation Award (Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre, CIAF 2019) and The Strand of Ephemera, (Townsville Artistic Excellence Award), amongst others.

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