Dr. Bianca Beetson is a Kabi Kabi, Wiradjuri woman and has been a practising artist for over 28 years. Bianca works across a broad range of media including painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography, fibre arts and public art. In 2018 Bianca was awarded a Doctor of Visual Art, from the QLD College of Art, Griffith University.
Bianca carved out a path for herself in the Indigenous arts as a trainee curator at Fireworks Gallery, where she worked on major projects, including the 1996 Campfire Group "All Stock Must Go" Installation as a part of the 2nd Asia Pacific Biennial. From 1999 to 2007, she worked in various arts worker roles, including the regional Indigenous community arts officer for Access Arts, artistic director of Catalyst Youth Arts and the community arts officer for Brisbane City Council. These previous roles greatly informed her community-engaged and collaborative arts practice.
Currently, Bianca is working on a collaborative arts-led research project called "Listening to Country", which explores the impact of sound, and in particular, the impact of sounds of Country on the health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within Institutions. This collaborative approach has allowed Bianca to mentor and support many generations of young and emerging artists as an educator and through her practice and passion for cultural sharing.
Bianca has lectured and directed the Bachelor of Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art (BCAIA) degree at the Qld College of Art, Griffith University and was the Director of Indigenous Research Unit until 2022. Bianca was also a founding member of the seminal Aboriginal artist collective proppaNOW Aboriginal artist collective.
Her current board and advisory group memberships include the board of trustees of the QLD Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art and its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory panel. She is also a NAVA board member, a member of the Arts QLD First Nations Arts and Cultures Advisory panel and on the Independent Interim Body for Treaty QLD .
As a visual artist, Bianca works in a broad range of media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, photography and public art.
To sum the work up: "It's all about skin, the skin I am in, thick and thin, the need to win, to shed my skin, to be free from sin. If you face the truth, there is no proof that the skin I am in is the skin of sin!"
Photo by Chloë Callistemon, courtesy of QAGOMA.
Artwork in background: Dibirdibi Country 2008 by Mirdidingkingathi Juwarrnda (Mrs Gabori), Brisbane City, 2021.