Cheryl Overton (Davison)

Cheryl Overton (Davison) is a Walbanja, Ngarigo and Muramurang artist, creative producer, and cultural leader whose life and work are deeply woven into Yuin Country. From early childhood she remembers listening to her grandfather and mother’s stories and teachings of the Yuin people. From her mother Deanna Davison nee Walker, she learned about Country, language, and belonging. Her grandmother, a Ngarigo woman from the Snowy Mountains, was forcibly removed as a child and never returned to her family. This legacy shapes Cheryl’s commitment to her culture and language.

Cheryl’s artistic practice spans visual arts, printmaking, and storytelling. She has exhibited her work regionally, nationally, and internationally; her work has been acquired by the National Art Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of NSW and the National Museum of Australia and is a part of some major and important art collections in Australia. Cheryl’s Work draw on ancestral narratives, creation stories, and landscapes of her Yuin Country. She initiated Djinama Yilaga, a multigenerational Yuin choir that uses song to reclaim the Dhurga language in an act of cultural restoration, healing, unity and identity. Since its founding in 2019, the choir has composed new songs in Dhurga, performing locally, nationally, and internationally and building connections between Elders, youth, and community through music.

Cheryl previously served on the Board of Gulaga National Park, caring for Gulaga, the Mother Mountain, a site linked to ceremony, childbirth and storytelling. Recently, she has illustrated the picture book Country (with authors Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson), a work that explores the sky, land, stories, and belonging. Through art, storytelling, language, and leadership, Cheryl Davison is a powerful voice in Yuin culture. Her life is a testament to the capacity of creative expression to reconnect people to Country, revitalise language, and renew generational strength.