Deborah Bonar – Perth based Aboriginal Artist and Graphic Designer

Deborah Bonar is a Perth based artist and graphic designer who runs her own business, Scribblebark Design, from her home studio. She paints with acrylics, oils and ochres, depending on her subject matter, which includes vibrant abstracts and naturalistic landscapes, plants and animals. She produces delicate ink drawings, digital artworks and greeting cards. She loves to experiment and has produced artwork with glass slumping and fusing and sand painting. She also likes printmaking using woodcuts, lino and collagraphs. She is versatile, with a broad artistic range. Further study at the Kidogo Art Institute in Fremantle increased Deborah's skill and knowledge base.

Deborah is inspired by the landscapes, flora and fauna of the Kimberley and Midwest regions of Western Australia, the heartlands of her Gija and Yamatji heritage. Her artwork and her Aboriginal identity are strongly interlinked. She is also a keen photographer and often works from photographs she has taken. Her paintings of lizards and geckos are highly sought after.

Her trademark is what she terms her "prismatic style", which she developed to capture the effect of tropical sunlight dancing on water, such as wet season raindrops, sea spray or billabongs. It also portrays movement, rhythm and harmony using a vibrant, multilinear, multicoloured abstract effect. Initially Deborah used acrylic paint to capture the prismatic effect, however when she started using ochres from the East Kimberley, she loved mixing and blending the pigments and liked the authenticity of using those locally sourced ochres to paint the true colours and landscapes of her grandmother's country. She has produced a series of ochre paintings featuring the striated rocks of Purnululu. She also produces ochre paintings of turtle and barramundi.

Deborah's artwork is an exploration and a celebration of her Gija and Yamatji heritage. Through her art, she reconnects with her cultural heritage, country, family and history. She likes to write stories, or interpretive pieces to accompany her artwork.

June 2011