Luanna Flammia

When I was a child, I would spend school holidays visiting my family in Italy. It is a small village on the outskirts of Naples. My uncle was the village painter and decorator, specialising in ‘Stucco Veneziano’ a marble effect usually painted on ceilings. He had a passion for creating texture, in his spare time he would teach me about mark making and abstract techniques using various tools. As a result, I wanted to delve into the art world. I graduated in Mixed Media Fine Art at the University of Westminster and then drifted into the business side of art being an Art Consultant on the Kings Road. Throughout these 5 years I continuously worked on my own pieces, honing in on my signature technique.

The Hudson River Artists (1825) have sparked my paintings in a technical way. By working with oil I can step into the footsteps of these artists who observed water, trees and horizon, capturing perspective and depth amongst the trees and beyond.

Alongside this, I have a fascination with the ocean and how the waves and reflections make me feel. When looking out to sea there is a contradictory feeling of being alone yet being loved. I express these feelings through the build up of vertical and horizontal markings representing the similarities between connection and nature. Opaque and translucent strokes distinguishing the different levels of our connections.

This process of layering helps me break down my thoughts, the deeper the perspective the stronger the connection, just like the ones we have with our close friends and family. As a result my paintings are textured and allow perspective and depth to dominate. We can relate to these textures as ocean connotations due to the resemblance of how waves from the ocean are formed.

My signature style uses reflective foils, Silver leaf and 24ct Gold submerged onto and beneath layers of oil, acrylic and ink, creating a balance between ocean, connections and nature.