Taking photography as a starting point, the paintings move away from the photographs' instant nature and allow time for the images to take on other forms that are either flattened by paint and pieced together like a puzzle or built up through layered imagery and materials.
Bio
Luciana Smith is a Sydney based artist whose practice has been shaped by studies in photography, film, painting and graphic design. Inspired by artists such as Sidney Nolan, Grace Hartigan, David Hockney and Elisabeth Cummings, she reanimates her surroundings with bold colour through a variety of techniques.
Over the past few years Luciana's work has oscillated between abstraction and representation with the two often being intertwined. Working mainly with acrylic paint on canvas or acetate and taking photography as a starting point, some paintings take on a simplistic puzzle-like formation while others undergo a layering process which involves varying degrees of abstraction to create the final image.
Though her paintings each take a different approach, there are underlying themes of suburbia, the home, and a voyeuristic fascination with unfamiliar and ambiguous spaces expressed in a skewed and playful manner.
Artist Statement
The project is a collection of memories combining snapshots of cityscapes, living spaces, exteriors and interiors from around the world. The paintings wander through foreign streets and rooms with a sense of the unfamiliar, nostalgia and a voyeuristic fascination that leaves an uncanny feeling of emptiness and solitude in spaces commonly associated with people.
Taking photography as a starting point, the paintings move away from the photographs' instant nature and allow time for the images to take on other forms that are either flattened by paint and pieced together like a puzzle or built up through layered imagery and materials. Working with photography also allows for the exploration of colour within the structure of another image and the variety of techniques used enables these spaces to be portrayed in multiple ways.
The palette and perspective can be skewed or the location becomes ambiguous through the tension between abstraction and representation.
Bio
Luciana Smith is a Sydney based artist whose practice has been shaped by studies in photography, film, painting and graphic design. Inspired by artists such as Sidney Nolan, Grace Hartigan, David Hockney and Elisabeth Cummings, she reanimates her surroundings with bold colour through a variety of techniques.
Over the past few years Luciana's work has oscillated between abstraction and representation with the two often being intertwined. Working mainly with acrylic paint on canvas or acetate and taking photography as a starting point, some paintings take on a simplistic puzzle-like formation while others undergo a layering process which involves varying degrees of abstraction to create the final image.
Though her paintings each take a different approach, there are underlying themes of suburbia, the home, and a voyeuristic fascination with unfamiliar and ambiguous spaces expressed in a skewed and playful manner.
Artist Statement
The project is a collection of memories combining snapshots of cityscapes, living spaces, exteriors and interiors from around the world. The paintings wander through foreign streets and rooms with a sense of the unfamiliar, nostalgia and a voyeuristic fascination that leaves an uncanny feeling of emptiness and solitude in spaces commonly associated with people.
Taking photography as a starting point, the paintings move away from the photographs' instant nature and allow time for the images to take on other forms that are either flattened by paint and pieced together like a puzzle or built up through layered imagery and materials. Working with photography also allows for the exploration of colour within the structure of another image and the variety of techniques used enables these spaces to be portrayed in multiple ways.
The palette and perspective can be skewed or the location becomes ambiguous through the tension between abstraction and representation.
