The timed auction ends Thursday July 30th at 8:00pm. Whoever holds the highest bid at the auction closing time wins.
Shane Bonsujet
Trophy, 2026
Acrylic paint on stretched canvas
Height 90 cm x Width 90 cm
Artwork is stretched and ready to hang & comes with a certificate of authenticity
Starting Bid: $1,400
Trophy presents a mounted animal head as both an object of pride and a quiet confrontation. Positioned against a rigid, tiled interior, the form feels simultaneously decorative and unsettling—caught between display and memory. The trophy, traditionally a marker of conquest or achievement, is recontextualised here as something still, watchful, and unresolved.
The direct gaze of the animal resists its role as a passive object. Instead of symbolising victory, it suggests a lingering presence—one that complicates the idea of dominance and ownership. The surrounding elements—the stark geometry of the wall, the solitary candle, the heavy black sconce—create a mood that is controlled yet uneasy, as if the space itself is holding its breath.
Through flattened perspective and deliberate simplification, I emphasise the constructed nature of both the image and the concept it represents. The bright, almost artificial colour of the chair contrasts with the muted interior, hinting at intrusion or displacement—something slightly out of sync within an otherwise ordered environment.
Trophy questions what it means to claim something as a symbol of success. It invites the viewer to reconsider the narratives embedded in objects of display, and to reflect on the tension between admiration, control, and the quiet weight of what has been taken.
Artist Bio: Shane Bonsujet is a visual artist based and working out of his studio in Melbourne.
Shanes art often draws on lived experiences and memories that explore themes of psychology, growth, empowerment and discovery forming a deep connection with viewers.
Emotive, expressive, intuitive and playful, Shane's paintings are inspired by many influences such as the natural world, existentialism and philosophy that create a balance and duality between depth in concept and naïve appearance. Bold colours and expressive brushwork create an open dancefloor for curious mark making, patterns, naïve characters, symbols and motifs that balance abstraction and various other styles and references.
Shanes paintings are held in public and private collections all over the country and internationally, and has been a finalist in various notable art prizes such as the Blacktown art prize, Fishers Ghost art prize, Hawkesbury art prize, Lethbridge 10,000 and exhibited in several exhibitions, group shows and art fairs.