Work: Marco Pennacchia has enjoyed the art festivals in Australia.
Marco Pennacchia is a first-time entrant in the Rochester Mural Festival, after coming to Australia in September 2019 from the Italian city of Treviso.
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Marco’s style is predominantly realism, but he experiments with colours and perception in his work to make the figures his own.
“My style is realism, but I’m trying to make it more interesting: playing with drapes, using some illusionistic visual effects, doubling the face or the bodies to create a kind of movement,” Marco said.
“I’m Italian, and I want to show the Australian community my art.
“When I saw the possibility to apply for this festival, I just did it — in Italy there is not a possibility to do this; in Australia it’s crazy, it’s beautiful.”
Marco will be taking inspiration from the Massive Attack song Teardrop in his Rochester Mural Festival mural, sticking to his portrait style of artwork with a portrait of a girl.
“There’s a meaning behind the song and behind the love, and it’s connected with my style and the theme of the festival,” he said.
“It’s a very strong song, with strong meaning: it talks about love and death, and being vulnerable, and especially if I think about the feelings I’ve had in the last couple of years.”
Marco was in Australia for all the lockdowns and while he was unable to travel home, he was able to reconnect with his artistic practice.
“Thanks to lockdown I started painting again,” he said.
“I came here to work with art, but I started with a safe job so I could have a safe salary, but then during lockdown I lost my job, so I said ‘you know what, I want to start again’.
“Thanks to the lockdown — even if I hate it — I got to paint again.
“For example, the mural is something new: I always paint with oil on canvas, and now I discovered this new technique and it’s actually really nice and fun.”
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