The Mimih Spirits belong to the Aboriginal mythology of Arnhem Land (the northern coast of Australia) and are said to live in the caves and crevices of the rocks in this maritime region. Tradition has it that they are spindly creatures that can be shattered by the slightest gust of wind: by sculpting them from spindly tree branches, the artists of these works have succeeded in rendering this particular aspect of their ‘models’.

Using natural pigments, they have also decorated their bodies and faces in the manner of the ritual paintings used by the Aborigines to celebrate the divinities to whom they owe the art of healing, music and dance, as well as the invention of painting.