Billy Bain uses humour, autobiography and collaboration to explore the lived experience of being a Dharug man in contemporary Sydney. His ceramic sculptures, paintings and installations draw on family histories, surfing and everyday life to question how Australian identity is represented and whose stories shape our understanding of place.
Billy Bain is a Dharug artist working across ceramic sculpture, painting and installation. Raised on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, he draws on family histories and his lifelong involvement in surfing to explore relationships between Country, identity and belonging
His solo exhibitions include By the Riverat the Art Gallery of New South Wales (2026) and Being Manlyat Manly Art Gallery & Museum (2022). His work has featured in Ever Presentand Of This Earth, presented by the National Gallery of Australia, which has also commissioned a new installation for Full Throttle(2026).
Billy has also created a public artwork for Western Sydney International Airport and undertaken commissions and collaborations with Apple and Wah-Wah.Alongside his studio practice,
Billy curates exhibitions, including Cruel Summerat Artbank Sydney and You’re Welcomeat Verge Gallery. He is a member of the National Gallery of Australia’s First Nations Advisory Group and serves on the board of Firstdraft.Bain has been a finalist in the Archibald Prize (2025), Wynne Prize (2023–2025) and Sulman Prize (2023). His work is held in public and corporate collections including the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australian National Maritime Museum, Artbank, Western Sydney University and Manly Art Gallery & Museum