Bianca Vern-Barnett
MYTH
26 September – 18 October 2026
OPENING/MEET THE ARTIST Saturday 26 September, 11am – 5pm ALL WELCOME
MEET THE ARTIST/ARTIST TALK
How do you find your subject matter?
My practice is concerned with the moment the inner, imagined world intersects with the outer world of collective memory and stories. I think my job as an artist is being available and ready…you’re like a receiver in a way. I pay attention to stories that capture and hold me and then I interrogate, what is it about this story that speaks to me about my own experience?
What techniques do you use?
In this body of work I have primarily used oil, enamel and spray acrylic on gesso primed canvas, using sized canvas, with the color of the raw canvas visible, as collaged pieces. I love to use brushes that are quite firm so that I can draw with paint and I also love drawing with, and working into paint with charcoal.
Who are your influences?
Rose Wylie, Jenny Watson, Jana Schroder, Howard Hodgkin, Joe Bradley.
Artist Biography
Bianca Vern-Barnett is an artist based in the Hunter Valley, Australia. In 2023, she was a finalist in the Hornsby Art Prize, the Newcastle Club Foundation Prize, and the National Emerging Art Prize. In 2024, Vern-Barnett was again selected for both the Newcastle Club Foundation Prize and the National Emerging Art Prize. She is the winner of the 2024 Hunter Emerging Art Prize for Painting.
Vern-Barnett creates abstract works which use layers to depict the chronology of a variety of historical, cultural, and personal narratives. She is a graduate of UNSW College of Fine Arts.
Bianca is represented by Straitjacket, her first exhibited at the gallery was in 2024.