About The Artist
Sharon Turner is an emerging artist living in Darwin, Northern Territory. She was born in 2000 and is the second daughter of Caroline Numina. She grew up in Darwin, Northern Territory and travelled regularly to Stirling Station and Utopia where her extended family still live. Sharon also spent her childhood watching her mother and aunties, the Numina sisters, paint.
Thorny Lizard Dreaming is referring to the Thorny Devil Lizard that is found throughout central Australia. It is a small fearsome looking creature that belies a harmless and placid nature. The ‘Thorny’ skin is used to protect the lizard from predators, and also it enables it to blend in easily into the environment, making it a very elusive creature to catch.
The Aboriginal people believe that during the Dreamtime, this small lizard used to collect and carry the ochre colours in a pouch located at the back of its neck. As it walked the land it used to deposit these ochre colours in various areas throughout the country. The people would then use these colours in their body painting ceremonies. In Mountain Devil Dreaming, the artist is depicting the pattern of the lizard’s skin that is used as a camouflage when danger is near. Not only does the pattern of the skin change, but also the colour as it blends into the environment making it virtually invisible.
