In The art that made me, artists discuss works in the Art Gallery of NSW collection that either inspire, influence or simply delight them. This selection by Luke Sciberras first appeared in Look – the Gallery’s members magazine.
Often working en plein air, Hill End artist Luke Sciberras seeks to capture the essence of place through his landscape paintings and drawings.
‘There has to be time spent in places and usually repeat visits over varying seasons to truly be able to wrest an image that is about a place rather than just of it,’ he reflected after a trip to Wilcannia in New South Wales.
A number of his works capturing the landscape and creatures of Wilcannia and the Kimberley, in Western Australia, have recently been acquired for the Gallery’s collection. These works on paper have a luminous intensity, evoking the colour, light and distinctive scenery of each area. Incorporating soil and river mud from his surroundings as he worked, Sciberras embedded the heat, dirt and feeling of each place into these works.
This expressive sense of place runs through the collection works which have shaped him as an artist.