B. 1954

GW Bot is the long-standing artistic name for prolific Australian artist, Christine Grishin. With a practice spanning over 30 years, Bot works across multiple mediums, including printmaking, painting, drawing and sculpting. Her pen name stems from the phrase “Le grand Warm Bot”, the first written reference to a wombat made by early French explorers. It is this animal, the wombat, that Bot considers her totem, connecting her to nature and to her local environment.

Bot is best known for her abstracted, spiritually-charged works of art. Through her art, she creates poetic fields of nature, populated by glyphs, or hieroglyphics, of her own invention, and her expressionist style has garnered acclaim throughout Australia and internationally. Bot’s significance in the canon of Australian art is highlighted by her inclusion in the National Gallery of Australia’s momentous ‘Know My Name’ exhibition, an touring exhibition which featured both contemporary and historical female artists who have notably impacted the national artistic landscape. 

Bot’s works are held in many major collections nationally, including the National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. She has exhibited throughout Australia and the United Kingdom, and her exhibition ‘GW Bot: The Long Paddock: A 30 Year Survey’ toured nationally from 2010 to 2013.