Anya Brock

Anya Brock

@anyapaintface

Mural Location : Graham Bricknell Sound Shell / Bicentennial Square

Credited for her sensitive and discerning use of colour, iconic Australian artist Anya Brock is best know for her signature bold hues, portrait- inspired animals, smouldering-faced girls and considered geometric compositions.

 Born in 1983 Anya was raised in Alfred Cove by Catherine and Jon Brock who owned a business repairing chairs. Encouraged from a young age to create, the ‘workshop’ provided the perfect atmosphere for a young and hungry brain. That paired with the encouragement of entrepreneurial small business owners has proved instrumental in Anya’s career.

Identifying strongly with the abstract expressionists hailing from 1950’s America, Anya sees her work as semi abstracted interpretations of her subjects. Employing organic exaggeration and distortion, the work is recognisably figurative without entering realism.

 Anya’s connection to her subject matter varies. Occasionally the subject only provides a guide for shape and composition, a vehicle in which to experiment with paint application and emotional mark making. On the other hand her girls and nudes portray a sensual feminine strength that is beguiling and non-threatening; exposed and courageous.

 Hailing from a background in fashion design (she ran a successful fashion label from the ages 19-26), and boasting a resume that includes working for British fashion powerhouses Christopher Kane and Richard Nicoll, Anya moved away from the increasingly competitive fashion world in 2010 and returned to her artistic roots of drawing and painting. Finding comfort in the solitary lifestyle of painting, the jump to full time artist for Anya was considerably fast.

 After quickly gaining a high profile in the Australian art world Anya opened her first gallery in her hometown of Fremantle in 2013, her flagship Sydney store in 2014 and launched her home wares range in 2015.

Anya’s colourful original paintings and prints feature in the interiors of Australia’s most contemporary homes and her larger-than-life murals can be found splashed across walls throughout Los Angeles, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Fremantle. Her budgie mural that adorned four 10-foot tall windows in Perth was featured in the New York Times.

 Anya now splits her time between Fremantle and Darlinghurst studios as well as painting murals and teaching workshops nationally.