Johanna Wilbraham

I am a contemporary British artist who has recently relocated back to the UK after spending the last 8 years in Australia. Graduating with a Fine Art Degree in 2008, I have since exhibited across the UK and Europe, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra.

The subject matter of my work has always obsessively been the female portrait and each painting allows me to interrogate further my own intentions and ideals. What started as a desire to capture personal, unseen moments of womanhood through self –portraiture has now opened a wider dialogue about vulnerability and representations of women in mainstream media. My paintings of women aim to explore vulnerability and beauty whilst rejecting idealised, sexualised and media driven images of women.

The context of contemporary female portraiture has also allowed me to develop a distinctive visual language. My large-scale portraits are created using jars and jugs, pouring diluted oil paint on to a flat canvas in a series of complex and translucent layers, rarely using a paintbrush. In this way the process is highly spontaneous and unpredictable. Like a chess game, the paint makes a move and I respond, continually attempting to control chaos. This tension of the controlled and uncontrolled und...

BA (honours) in Fine Art, English and Creative Writing from University of Chichester, UK

April 2017 - Art Lovers Australia Exhibition 2018
June 2017 - Online finalist – Lethbridge 10,000 Small Scale Art Award
January 2017 - Winner of the Art Lovers Australia People’s Choice Award
January 2017 - Tusk Gallery, Melbourne
Sept – Dec 2016 - Solo Exhibition at Harley House, Melbourne
April 2016 - ‘Self Portraiture’ Group Exhibition, BSG, Melbourne
March 2016 - ‘Booty and Bust’ Group Exhibition, Traffic Jam Galleries, Sydney
September 2015 - ‘Hop for Hope’ fundraising exhibition, Yarra Valley, VIC
April 2015 - ‘Semblance’ Group Exhibition at Tusk Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
September 2013 - RAW Artists, Translations Exhibition, Melbourne, Australia
January 2012 - Group exhibition, Paint Box Gallery, Canberra, Australia.
March 2010 - New British Artists, Chelsea Art Fair, London.
February 2010 - New British Artists, Affordable Art Fair, Brussels.
October 2009 - New British Artists, Affordable Art Fair, London.
February 2009 - New British Artists, 20/21 International Art Fair, Royal College of Art.
November 2008 - National Open Art Exhibition. Winner of 3rd prize, under 25s category. ...