Bama

Bama is a tribute to Mose Tolliver, the self-taught visionary painter who was born and lived his entire life in Montgomery, Alabama. The title refers not only to the colloquial word for “person” but also to Alabama itself—the place that shaped Tolliver’s art, his voice, and his enduring legacy.

The seated figure in Bama anchors the painting in a familiar, domestic setting, while the floating heads, creeping snake, and patterned objects gesture toward the dreamlike symbolism that often filled Tolliver’s works. These elements reflect his ability to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, to infuse humor, memory, and resilience into scenes of everyday life.

By invoking Bama, I honor Alabama as both a geographic and cultural ground—a place that birthed Tolliver’s art and where he found beauty despite hardship. The painting is a conversation across time and place, carrying forward his spirit of invention and raw expression while reimagining it through my own hand.

This work stands as both homage and continuation: a reminder that Tolliver’s vision, rooted in Alabama soil, continues to grow new branches.

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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, naïve characters, patterns, 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 and exhibited in several exhibitions, group shows and art fairs.