Caroline Numina Napananka / Thorny Lizard Dreaming (14A)

Caroline is a young artist who has already made an incredible impression on the Contemporary Art Market.

Born in 1975 at Stirling Station which is Anmatyerre country near Alice Springs and Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia and educated in Alice Springs, Caroline began painting in 1981, under the direction of two of our most famous Australian Artists, her aunties Kathleen and Gloria Petyarre.

One of six girls, they were taught the traditional stories by their relatives, and with her sisters Lanita and Louise, Caroline relocated to Darwin in 1995 where she remains today with her husband Daniel Pula Turner and their four children, living close to her sisters Lanita, Jacinta, Louise and Sharon, all artists in their own right.

She paints the stories of her heritage, including bush tucker and bush medicine dreaming, mountain devil lizard dreaming, honey ant, emu and kangaroo dreaming in exquisite detail and striking colours.

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, camouflaging 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 the dew catches upon their 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.

This gorgeous painting depicts the story of the skin of the Mountain Thorny Devil Lizard. The lizard is said to change colours in the desert as the sun rises and sets and the dew catches upon their 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, pink and white. It captures a feeling of gentle transition and movement, a very beautiful painting.