Carl Melegari

Carl Melegari’s contemporary approach to painting explores the human form, primarily focusing on the semi-abstraction of the figure and the versatility of oil paint to create them.

Often working from life and models, Carl explores how the physicality of the paint combined with the density of pigment can give a sense of life radiating from the canvas, as if to evoke the vigour of the human form. His approach to painting explores the treatment and handling of paint whilst conveying expressionistic, ethereal figures. His paintings arguably focus as much on the medium of paint and how it reacts with the surface, as they do on the subject matter of the piece.

Through the veils of layers, achieved by continuously accumulating and scraping back the paint, a figure emerges as if to suggest that the sitter has become enveloped and partly obscured by the energy of the paint. His work draws from sculptural influences, such as American sculptor Manuel Neri, as well as from colourists, such as Italian painter Giorgio Morandi.

Carl frequently uses a monochromatic palette to generate the idea that he is playing with the reduction of form, often abstracting and delineating parts to create a more non-figurative feel. He often uses this muted palette to replicate a sense of isolation and seclusion. He then applies paint liberally and without reserve: allowing it to drip spontaneously to both literally and symbolically mirror the personality of the sitter.