Bonnie-Jean Whitlock (b.1992) is a contemporary surrealist painter originally from rural Southeast Gippsland Victoria. She currently lives and works in Melbourne/Naarm, Australia, where she completed a Master of Fine Art in 2023 through Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and was awarded the Lowenstein’s prize for Arts Management.

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My practice is deeply rooted in analogue process, symbolism, and slow making:

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I re-work paintings over and over, repeat themes, and test continuously. Mostly, I love responding to idiosyncrasies in found materials, and pursuing relationships between the subject of the painting and the symbolism embedded in the materials.

I often start with a stain and wax resist technique on raw linen or cotton, or trace photographs, forming a base or background to draw, paint, and bead onto.

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I’m interested in queer and rural Australian narratives, mostly autobiographical I guess, but also broader ideas around morality and belonging, and our relationship with the natural world and its resources. Painting for me is a form of figuring out, spending time with, and giving permission to the wondering parts of myself.