Tag: contemporary artist

Evi Antonio creates vivid, large-scale artworks that magnify butterflies, insects, and natural forms, revealing patterns, colours, and structures that often go unnoticed. Trained in natural history illustration, she developed a deep understanding of observation, precision, and the extraordinary complexity found within nature before expanding her practice into digital painting and fine art. Today, Evi combines digitally constructed compositions with traditional hand-finishing techniques, using acrylic glazes, oils, varnish, and other materials to give each work texture, depth, and a unique physical presence. Butterflies remain central to her practice, allowing her to explore…

For more than two decades, Gala Gilan has developed a contemporary figurative painting practice that combines technical realism with emotional depth, quiet atmosphere, and thoughtful observation. Working primarily in oil, she uses light not simply to define form but to shape mood, memory, and the subtle emotional presence within each portrait. Rather than creating exact likenesses, Gala's paintings leave space for mystery, inviting viewers to bring their own experiences and interpretations into every work. Inspired by everyday moments, personal relationships, and the enduring language of realism, she explores how portraiture can…

Holly Hutton creates handcrafted botanical artworks using historic photographic processes such as cyanotype and platinum-palladium printing, transforming flowers and plants into richly textured images that celebrate both nature and the beauty of slow-making. Originally trained in fiber arts, she discovered alternative photography while exploring image-making on fabric, a turning point that continues to shape her multidisciplinary practice decades later. Rather than treating photography as a tool for instant capture, Holly embraces chemistry, paper, fabric, and light as active collaborators, allowing each print to evolve through experimentation and carefully balanced unpredictability. Her…

Jillian Cheong creates vibrant paintings and textile collages inspired by Singapore’s extraordinary biodiversity, transforming everyday encounters with birds, insects, tropical plants, and urban nature into joyful celebrations of colour and discovery. A former biology teacher, she combines scientific observation with expressive artistic storytelling, encouraging viewers to slow down and notice the remarkable wildlife often hidden within familiar surroundings. Her richly layered compositions are filled with intricate botanical details, luminous birds, and playful patterns that reward close looking and invite a deeper connection with the natural world. More recently, Jillian has incorporated…

Lenny Pelling creates highly detailed pencil drawings that blend wildlife observation with storytelling, transforming Australian animals into memorable characters filled with personality, humour, and emotional depth. After leaving a corporate career in 2016 to pursue art full-time, she developed a distinctive practice that combines meticulous draftsmanship with a deep love for Australia’s unique wildlife. Rather than portraying animals as static subjects, Lenny imagines them living rich, relatable lives, whether it’s skinks sharing conversations, birds navigating daily adventures, or wombats going about their routines. Her work balances playful visual narratives with a…

Michelle Dumas transforms forgotten thrift-store paintings into dazzling contemporary artworks using thousands of individually applied sequins, breathing new life into vintage florals, landscapes, portraits, and found treasures. Rooted in a love of thrifting, upcycling, and creative reinvention, her practice challenges traditional ideas about value, beauty, and permanence by rescuing discarded artworks and turning them into vibrant, light-filled pieces that constantly shift with their surroundings. Working through an intensely time-consuming process, Michelle carefully builds layers of colour, texture, shimmer, and pattern that invite viewers to slow down and experience the work from…

Nayeli Lavanderos creates intricate black-ink animal portraits that exist at the intersection of wildlife art, symbolism, healing, and personal transformation. Born in Mexico and now based in Portugal, her practice is deeply influenced by animal advocacy, shamanic traditions, and the Mexican concept of the nahual—the animal companion or spiritual mirror that accompanies a person through life. Each drawing begins with careful observation but unfolds through intuition, patience, and thousands of meticulously placed marks that slowly bring the animal’s presence to life. Working exclusively in black ink for much of her career,…

Robyn Palescandolo creates floral paintings that balance painterly realism with expressive brushwork, transforming flowers, fruit, and natural forms into deeply emotional experiences of beauty, wonder, and connection. Drawing inspiration from years spent studying art history, working as a designer, running a painting retreat in rural Italy, and continually returning to art throughout life's many changes, her work reflects both technical mastery and personal growth. Rich with soft pinks, lavenders, blues, greens, and luminous whites, her palette emerges from close observation of nature while gently heightening colour to capture emotion rather than…

Sepideh Shahgholi creates deeply personal paintings and wearable sculptures shaped by memory, identity, migration, and emotional connection to place. Moving fluidly between abstract landscapes, layered mark-making, organic forms, and intricate sculptural headpieces made from wire and natural materials, her work explores how emotions and memories live within the body long after places are left behind. Rather than beginning with fixed images, her paintings emerge intuitively through feelings, smells, colours, and fragments of lived experience that slowly surface onto the canvas through layered marks and washes. Alongside her paintings, Sepideh’s wearable sculptures…

Mona Lisa Safai creates abstract works filled with movement, texture, and emotional energy, blending digital art, photography, and traditional painting into a layered visual language that feels both physical and atmospheric. Rather than focusing on narrative or recognizable imagery, her work invites instinctive emotional responses through scraped textures, shifting colour fields, and bold palette knife marks that hold traces of process and spontaneity. Moving fluidly between canvas and digital mediums, she explores how texture, light, and colour can communicate tension, softness, disruption, and calm before a viewer fully understands the image…