My artwork is a celebration of my family's totem, The Saltwater Crocodile.
Like the crocodile, we are saltwater people with an ancient lineage.
Everything is connected, the land, the water and us.
Joshua Bonson is an award-winning Darwin based artist who has
enlivened and expanded the visual language and traditions of art
of this region.
Over the years proving his ability as a great artist with works in
The National Gallery of Australia, Kerry Stokes, Wheelock Properties Collection, Toga Contemporary Art and Art Bank Collection to name but a few, as do many private collections both nationally and internationally.
Bonson is a painter who shares stories of his Indigenous heritage through his work.
Accolades have followed Bonson since the age of 18 when he was the youngest ever finalist in the prestigious Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award. Then at 22, he was awarded winner of the Togart Contemporary Art Award. In 2013 Joshua was again a finalist in the 30th Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, Finalist in the City of Albany Art Prize and Winner of the Top End NAIDOC artist of the year. In 2014 Joshua held his first solo exhibition internationally and due to his high achievements within the arts received the Young Achievers Award NT, Artist of the Year. In 2015, Joshua received a scholarship at Bundanon Trust Artists Retreat, NSW, provided by Ervin Vidor, Director of the Toga Group and was also a finalist in the Churchie Art Award QLD. In 2020 Joshua was a finalist in The Alice Prize.
"I create works to connect, to open windows into other people’s thoughts and to have them tell me what they see and feel. An opportunity for the audience to use their imagination to find something in my work that makes them think, feel, experience, and maybe share that with someone else. I want my artworks to generate stories that people connect over or around; I love hearing what people see in my paintings. Each work is a unique, with its own personality. They are all a part of me, enabling me to express myself, tell a story, start a conversation."