.Since you started posting your works on deviantART, your style has evolved and changed a lot, especially in representing faces. Was it only an increase of ability in drawing or did it go hand in hand with a change in your tastes and style?
i think change just happened as a natural and gradual thing. ive been on deviantart for like four years now, and i was only in mid highschool wehn i started, so i was dabbling in drawing really. now its actually something very serious for me and i guess my style has emerged. i think it will keep slowly being built upon though, as the years go by. the more you practice, the better you get.
You have portrayed, among others, Paul Banks and Patrick Wolf, and you quote Interpol very often. Are you inspired by music for your pictures?
im more inspired by social situations that music , but i listen to alot of music when i work, so it must be a subconcious inspiration.
i get inspired more by seeing bands live. i painted the paul banks portrait a day after i saw interpol in sydney and the same with mr wolf.
How was the "Bleeding Knees Club" idea born?
one day i made a painting of a little row of legs. and i put some red on the knees, and then left the house to go for a walk while the paint was still wet.
i came back and the red had leaked all down the legs, and it looked like blood! so that was the very beginning and i guess it was fate. now a friend of mine owns that painting and its just super to see the different reactions to it. some people are a bit horrified, which i dont understand, but oh well!
In almost every one of your works you focus a lot on sitters' necks, eyebrows and legs. Why?
i get obsessed with things very easily. id say im most obsessed with eyebrows. and legs are just beautiful. and youre lucky to have a swan neck if youve got good genes.
i guess i fuss over alot of aspects of the body in my real life, so it just comes through. theres alot of importance embedded in certain imagery, just because of past experience and memory.
i mean, it was never cool in highschool to have big eyebrows, but when youre half italian you cant really help it. so now im embracing it and treasuring it because really, its okay.
With your work "Women" it's obvious that you have a flair for realistic painting. Why have you chosen to portrait these eccentric and original girls?
oh, that one is really old! haha. i think i just grabbed a bunch of fashion magazines and drew some faces.
Why did you stop taking photos?
i didnt. i carry an old broken ricoh around with me all the tim. taking photos is another quicker way to make art, and i really love that.
Tell me about the "Ersatz Accquaintances" project.
well, in my last year of highschool i had to work on a project that sustained me for the whole year, so it turned into a book of illustrations, a see through dress and a glittered dollhouse.
the project was about imaginary friends and being able to invent and create your own little people with your imagination. i made all these paper dolls and it was quite funny because it took nine months, just like the gestation period for a real baby. it was alot of hard work, and i spent most of my senior year sitting in the art block drawing pictures. i hated school, so it was an escape for me. but at the same time, it was good to focus on something that i had a passion for when all the terrors of the HSC were looming.
Your works were exhibited in Sydney. How was it? Was it the first time? How does it feel to have your works exposed to so many people?
yes, the ersatz project was the one exhibited! its was done through this initiative called art express, which showcases the very best HSC art from NSW. at the time it was very hard to comprehend, but i am so super pleased to have been given that excellent opportunity. ive also had a few works shown at the regional gallery in gosford, but this summer im going to take some steps to contact some more galleries. fingers crossed!
Do you think you're going to make a career out of your passion?
oh yes, of course! ive recently opened up an etsy store, so i guess i already am. i never want to go to work in a black pinstripe suit and be stuck in a cubicle, typing away.
im a bit of an idealistic romantic kid, but if i could paint in my bedroom all day every day, then i would be happiest.
Pepperminte deviantART
