"Thorny Lizard" by Sharon Numina Napanangka

About Sharon

Sharon Numina was born in 1981 and attended Kormilda College in Darwin. She is one of six sisters and two brothers. Her mother, Barbara Price Mbtitjana, a senior painter and cultural elder from Stirling Station near Tennant Creek, instructed all her daughters in the art of painting. Sharon is recognised as one of the younger painters among the esteemed Numina Sister desert artists. Currently, she resides in Darwin with her older sisters.

Sharon's father, who has since passed away, hailed from Utopia. The narratives of Bush Tucker, Goanna Tracks, Dingo Trails, and other motifs represented in Sharon's artwork are derived from her mother's and father's Country, as well as the Dreaming totems and stories grounded in cultural knowledge.

Sharon, along with her sisters and mother, comes from a distinguished lineage of desert painters who have contributed to the contemporary Aboriginal art movement and the dot painting tradition. This lineage is influenced by the renowned painter aunts Gloria and Kathleen Petyerre, established artists in Alice Springs.

About the artwork

This painting depicts the story of the skin of the “thorny devil”, which is referred to by Anmatyerre people as “mountain devil lizard”. The thorny devil is a beautifully patterned, dragon-like creature with barbs and humps across its back and large, bulging protuberances on its head, which camouflages its eyes. Surviving on small insects, it inhabits the dune areas of the country and can be found across much of the Western Desert. The lizard is said to change colours in the desert as the sun rises and sets, and dew catches on its skin, reflecting the ability of the Mountain Thorny Devil Lizard to change from plain to vivid colours. A very detailed work created by a series of swirls in the alluring colours of yellow, orange, red, pink and white. It captures a feeling of gentle transition and movement.