Fiery new work inspired by Aussie rock legend will leave you thunderstruck
Understanding an artist’s creative process can be sometimes a tricky affair. Not so, with sculptor and performance artist Dr Bon Mott _/\_ (‘_/\_’ is pronounced “Bon”) who draws you into their world with warmth, energy and enthusiasm.
Which is fitting, since their latest instalment – Bonfire Touch Too Much – speaks the language of fire.
Bon is a non-binary, neurodivergent artist who explores the often-complex worlds of astronomy, indigenous culture and music. Specifically, the music of legendary AC/DC frontman, Bon Scott.
The work is layered and brings together a mix of unexpected elements including glass, bronze, lettering and jewellery to explore an explosion of ideas – from misogyny to feminism, literacy, and cultural myths.
“I did my doctorate on Bon Scott, he was once asked if he was the AC or DC and he said he was neither – he identified as the lightning in the middle,” Bon explained.
“A lot of people may not know that he was super intelligent, and I argued in my doctorate that he was a feminist.
“He always craved to be a solo artist and he said if he did a solo album, it would have been called Bonfire and I wanted to make a tribute to that.”
Bon describes their work as having a many moving parts and being influenced by their research into ceremonies of indigenous communities in Minnesota.
“There’s a sense that not it’s only a bonfire, but an explosion,” Bon said.
“Like it’s getting so hot, so high energy, that it explodes. During the explosion different parts come out – like patriarchy, binaries being blasted into the sun, it is a force.
“While the blast is happening, these cosmic rays – where lightning originates – are coming down.
“(Representing) a connection of the sky, the earth and the in between – which is like Bon Scott being the lightning between the AC and the DC.”
They are one of 28 artists whose work is on display as part of the Molten Tongues exhibition at Moonee Valley’s Incinerator Gallery, which opened on 30 January.
Molten Tongues, which is open until 28 March, “speaks in the primal, alchemical language of fire — a force that warms, consumes, ignites, transforms. Fire is at once origin and omen, a source of life and an agent of destruction.”
It proudly brings together works by contemporary Australian and international artists who engage fire as material, metaphor and memory.
And, as fitting for a gallery with its origins being an incinerator, the exhibition considers fires as we know it ritual, industry and ceremony.
This exhibition is participating in Midsumma Festival’s keynote program ‘Time & Place’.
Exhibition dates:
31 January 2026 – 28 March 2026
Venue:
Incinerator Gallery
180 Holmes Road, Aberfeldie, VIC 3040
Artists:
Ali Tahayori, Ara Dolatian, Dr Bon Mott _/\_, Cheng Ran, Dr Christian Thompson AO, Claybia (Cassandra Chilton and Molly O’Shaughnessy), Diego Ramírez, Diogo Evangelista, Emily Parsons-Lord, Felix Saturn, Glynn Urquhart, Hannah Hallam-Eames, Iluka Sax-Williams, Ioanna Sakellaraki, Joshua Serafin, Jenna Lee, Makiko Ryujin, Michael Jalaru Torres, Moorina Bonini, Morehshin Allahyari, Naomi Blacklock, Nicholas Burridge, Priyageetha Dia, Sha Sarwari, Shireen Taweel, Yhonnie Scarce, and Yumemi Hiraki.