G.W. Bot

G.W. Bot is the artist’s name for the leading Australian artist Christine Grishin, who has been practicing as a full-time artist for more than 30 years. GW Bot is a printmaker, painter, sculptor and graphic artist who has exhibited extensively nationally and internationally. She has had over 50 solo exhibitions, including shows in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, London, Paris, New York and Los Angeles and has participated in over 200 group and invitational exhibitions. She is the recipient of numerous commissions and has been awarded residencies in Europe, Asia and Australia.

The artist explains the choice of her exhibiting name, a choice she made some 40 years ago. “According to Aboriginal totemic belief, each member of a clan inherits a totemic relationship with a particular plant or animal of the region. I like this idea of oneness with the environment. Where I live, wombats are especially prevalent and they have become my totemic animal. The earliest written reference to a wombat occurs in a French source where it is called ‘le grand Wam Bot,’ and hence my exhibiting name – G.W. Bot.”

She was born in Quetta, Pakistan, of Australian parents, and studied art in London, Paris and Australia and graduated from the Australian National University in 1982. Her drawings were first published as illustrations in a book in London in 1980 and since 1985 she had worked as a full-time artist maintaining an independent studio practice.