Victoria Atkinson

Born and raised in Sydney, Victoria Atkinson’s rainbow palette is both a personal representation of her as an openly queer woman and a manifestation of her expressed goal in making art: to bring joy to audiences everywhere. Her works' vivid colours and dynamic tableaus strobe with kinetic energy, seemingly bleeding over the edges of their frames.

For the subject matter of her work, Victoria Atkinson draws on her passions for World Wrestling Entertainment, reality TV, her memories and her quest for love. Victoria has been a finalist in the Archibald and the Sulman prizes. Her work in the 2022 Sulman was particularly poignant, as it memorialised her mother, who sadly passed away in the year prior.

Victoria’s mum had been extremely proud of Victoria’s achievements in art, including being named as a finalist in the 2021 Archibald Prize with Trent mango tree, all the colours of the rainbow, Trent.

‘I painted Zimmerman because he’s a nice man’ says Victoria. ‘I’ve known him a long time. He’s handsome and he’s gay. I like meeting Trent because he is like me – I’m a lady who would like a girlfriend.’

For this work, Victoria portrayed Trent Zimmerman, former Federal Member for North Sydney and one of the first openly gay individuals elected to Australia’s House of Representatives.  

In addition to painting, Victoria works in textiles. She has exhibited at the Australian Design Centre multiple times, including in the 2022 Seed Stitch Contemporary Textile Awards and Meet the Maker 2018, which saw her hand-embroidered wrestling masks and belts showcased as part of Sydney Mardi Gras. In 2019, she expanded her practice to include animation, creating a two-channel, immersive installation set within a fabric version of the Bachelorette mansion, again touching on her recurring theme of longing for romance.

Victoria’s works are held in public and private collections, including the University of New South Wales collection, curated by Elena Taylor.

- Words by Dr Wilfred Brandt, portrait by Tanja Bruckner