Bonnie Hislop is an artist focusing on ceramics, particularly handbuilding and ceramic illustration. Grounded in technical skill, her practice has evolved from creating illustrative ceramic planters to large scale sculptural work. Bonnie uses her forms to critically engage with the world around her and document the human experience. Working from her Meanjin home studio, Bonnie meticulously hand crafts her forms through an involved and often uncertain process inherent in working with clay. She unites bright colours and satirical concepts to engage her audience in a dialogue with the physical world around them. Her work intersects traditional representations of ceramics with a craft aesthetic to create a contemporary interpretation of the ceramic medium. The artwork doesn’t take itself too seriously yet is able to capture personal experiences universal to the human condition. Her practice aims to encapsulate universal experiences of frustration, angst, grief, emotional fatigue as well as feminine strength, intimacy and desire. The performative, brightly coloured ceramics forge an existence through joy and curiosity. In 2022 she and photographer Melanie Hinds developed an ongoing collaborative series which puts Hislop in the frame with the artwork, extending the messaging of the ceramic works. This collaboration seeks to subvert perceptions on the classic ‘artist portrait’ and expectations of femininity.
Bonnie regularly facilitates as a guest artist at venues and events around Meanjin and Australia including Woodford Planting Festival, Fremantle Fibonacci Centre, Redland Art Gallery, Queensland Library, Museum of Brisbane and various educational institutions. In 2023 she was featured as part of Museum of Brisbane’s major exhibition ‘Clay: Collected Ceramics’ and three of her works are now in their permanent collection.
CV
Exhibitions
2023
RAINBOWS ON TOAST WITH JAM, Side Gallery (solo)
CLAY: COLLECTED CERAMICS, Museum of Brisbane (Group)
2022
SERVE, Jam Factory (Group)
A GENTLE UNWINDING, Modern Times (Group)
VIELED, Side Gallery (Group)
2022 NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS (Finalist)
PAIRED, Side Gallery (Group)
THIS AIN’T NO LADIES BOOT STORE, Paper Boat Press (solo)
2021
Landing, Side Gallery (group)
2020
Better Luck Next Year, The Third Quarter (solo)
Alt Love, Forge Forward (solo)
2019
Local ceramic showcase, Bonnie Hislop Showroom (group)
2018
Australian Stories, Browns General Store (solo)
Art with Heart, Jugglers Art Space (group)
2017
Bonnie and the Animals, Browns General Store (solo)
Homegrown, Ipswich Art Galley (group)
Awards
2022
2022 NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS, Emu Sportswear $1000 equisitive award For ‘Opening Lines on Datings Apps with Pictures of Carbs: Hi Cutie’
Acquisitions
2022
MUSEUM Of BRISBANE, ‘Welcome to the Party’ (ceramic vessel)
MUSEUM OF BRISBANE, ‘I Feel Pretty’ (ceramic vessel)
Workshops and Classes
2022
Dabbler Studio, director and teacher
2021
Dabbler Studio, director and teacher
Tafe, guest seminar and workshop
Adderton, trophies for change
2020
Bonnie Hislop Studio, underglazing and handbuilding workshops
K.U. Children’s Services, Guest Facilitator ‘int the studio’
Forge Forward, ceramic workshops
Ladies, Wine and Design, Guest Speaker
2019
Bonnie Hislop Showroom, Underglazing workshop
Bonnie Hislop Studio, Handbuilding and underglazing workshops
Creative Accomplice Darwin, Guest Facilitator handbuilding workshop
Weekend Edition Panel Series, Breaking into the world of design panelist
Creative Mornings, Guest Speaker
K.U. Children’s Services, Guest Facilitator ‘int the studio’
2018
The Ceramic House, resident handbuilding teacher
2017 - 2016
Workshop Brisbane, Underglazing workshop
Raw Art, underglazing workshop