Biography
Jacq Wylestone (born 1970 in Geelong, Australia) is a contemporary painter based in Melbourne. Working in oil on linen and panel, Wylestone is known for high-contrast still-life paintings distinguished by their cinematic quality and atmospheric lighting.
Wylestone’s practice explores desire, identity, and the unconscious, drawing on Jungian concepts of the shadow and the hidden dimensions of the self. Recurring motifs—including satin, velvet, mannequin hands, mirrors, goblets, gloves, and perfume—function as psychological signifiers, evoking concealed desires, vulnerability, and the complexities of identity. Through dramatic lighting and carefully distilled compositions, Wylestone creates subtly surreal, otherworldly scenes that transform familiar objects into evocative images of inner experience. Combining direct painting methods with multi-layered glazing, the artist develops each work through a deliberate, contemplative process.
Jacq Wylestone has exhibited in Still at Brunswick Street Gallery (2022), Scene-Unseen (2020) and Re-Scene-Unseen (2021) at George Paton Gallery, University of Melbourne, and 9x5 at the Victorian Artists Society. Wylestone has also exhibited at numerous community and commercial spaces across Melbourne. The artist’s work is held in private collections nationally.
Resume
Jacq Wylestone
Born 1970, Geelong, Australia
Resides and works in Melbourne, Australia
Education/training:
2017-2019: Bachelor of Fine Art, (Sculpture)
The University of Melbourne, Victorian College of the Arts, Southbank, Victoria, Australia
Selected group exhibitions:
2026, Small Works Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2025, Small Works Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2024, 9x5 Exhibition, Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne, Australia
2024, 50 Squared Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2024, Summer Salon, Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne, Australia
2024, VAS Studio Exhibition, Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne, Australia
2023, 50 Squared Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2022, Small Works Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2022, Still, (still life group show) Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2021, Re-Scene Unseen, George Paton Gallery, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia
2021, Small Works Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2021, 50 Squared Art Prize, Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2020, Scene Unseen, George Paton Gallery, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, Australia
2019, Graduate Exhibition, Victorian College of the Arts, Southbank, Victoria, Australia
2019, S/cens/us, Student Gallery, Victorian College of the Arts, Southbank, Victoria, Australia
2018, 2nd Year Sculpture Exhibition, Student Gallery, Victorian College of the Arts, Southbank, Victoria, Australia
2018, Proud, Student Gallery, Victorian College of the Arts, Southbank, Victoria, Australia
2017, Proud, Margaret Laurence Gallery, Southbank, Victoria, Australia
2017, I’d Like to Call It, 1st Year (Sculpture), Student Gallery, Victorian College of the Arts, Southbank, Victoria, Australia
2015, Flow, Roslyn Smorgon Gallery, Footscray Community Arts Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2014, Force, Manning Regional Gallery, NSW, Australia
2011, The Butterfly Effect, Toyota Community Spirit Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2009, Postcard Show, Linden-Centre for Contemporary Arts, Melbourne, Australia
Selected collections:
Jacq Wylestone features in various national private collections.
Awards:
2014, 9x5 Art Prize, 3rd Prize, The Victorian Artists Society, Melbourne, Australia
2019, Dora McRae Painting Intensive, Place Winner, Victorian College of the Arts, Southbank, Victoria, Australia
Artist Talks:
2015, Flow, Roslyn Smorgon Gallery, Exhibition tour and talk.
2014, Open Studios in the West, Studio tour and talk.
2013, Open Studios in the West, Studio tour and talk
Selected press:
Rhonda Dredge, “A Mantra for our Times” The Melburnian-Southbank, 11/12/2019
https://themelburnian.au/a-mantra-for-our-times_9201/ consulted Oct. 2026
Bibliography:
The Victorian Artists Society, For the Love of Art, VAS, Melbourne, Australia, 2024
Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, VCA Art Grad. show 2019, University of Melbourne, 2019
Catherine Mallette, Ironwork Today 4 Inside and Out, Schiffer Publishing Ltd. 2014