DEADLY MOB // Artist Spotlight: Zartisha Davis

We’re proud to introduce our Emro Designs Deadly Mob series. Starting our showcase with the stunning work from Zartisha Davis. A truly inspiring First Nations creative — a proud Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi, Cobble Cobble, and Butchulla woman whose art is grounded in culture, family, and Saltwater stories.

From her very first painting at just six years old to designing First Nations dresses for the Sunshine Coast Lightning, her journey has been shaped by strong matriarchs and cultural foundations.

Her practice is dedicated to keeping stories alive — especially the Shell Middens passed down by her uncle, which speak to the long history of gathering, connection, and care for Land and Sea. Through her unique mark-making style, she honours the generations that came before her and continues to share that legacy with pride.

It’s an honour to spotlight this deadly creative and all she represents.

Stay tuned as we continue to highlight incredible First Nations artists making waves across the creative industries.

How it all began

“I am so grateful to have been brought up around Art and Song and dance so I remember I did my first painting when I was like six years old, I grew up watching my uncle Lyndon and my Mum and other uncles painting and telling the stories of my great grandmother who I was fortunate to be raised by for the first five years of my life so I think having that strong cultural foundation has really shaped who I am today and how I paint.”

What does it mean to you to be an Indigenous creative in Australia today?

“It means a lot, I am so proud to be apart of the Oldest Living Culture on this entire planet and get to tell the stories of our old people and keep them alive for our next generations, and not just for mob but for the wider community also. I’m very blessed that I get to do my art as my full time job, there are so many amazing opportunities nowadays for artists so it’s really nice that I get to do this. I haven’t had many negative experiences but the ones I have had have come down to ignorance or tokenism so I feel like that would be a challenge in knowing that the organisations you work with have good intentions and actually want to learn and work together in a mutually respectful way and build a genuine relationship and understanding.”

Career Highlight

“I am really proud of 2023 being a finalist in my first emerging art prize and then in 2024 being a finalist in 4 Art Prizes (2 were National prizes) that was an amazing achievement just to be in those spaces amongst so many other amazing artists! I also have designed the Sunshine Coast Lightning Netball team’s First Nations dress 2024 & 2025 so really proud to have built an amazing relationship with them and got to work with them for the last two years, being apart of so much locally makes me so proud and honouring my family and my nan by doing all that I’m doing in community makes me so proud.”

About her work

“My arts practice is telling my families story and the story of our Land and Sea, particularly with the Shell Middens story that my uncle handed down to me I feel like it’s such an important story because it’s not just remnants of our diet it’s a story that encompasses so much more, like our hunting and gathering practices our relationship with the animals, land and sea, gathering to then eat that abundance and sitting together and sharing food, stories and language and because a lot of the Middens were destroyed by early settlers to make the first roads because the Middens were rich in Lyme, me painting them is apart of keeping that story alive and honouring that part of our long existence here.”

Zartisha’s journey is a powerful reminder of the strength that comes from connection to culture and community. Her work doesn’t just decorate—it educates, honours, and continues the stories that have been passed down for generations.

We’re honoured to share her story as part of our Deadly Mob series and can’t wait to spotlight more amazing First Nations creatives making waves in the art and design world.

Stay tuned.