Nunzio Miano is an Italian-Australian artist renowned for his visceral and visually striking paintings portraying the emotional and psychological dimensions of his subjects. For his forthcoming exhibition, The Italian Imposter, Miano bravely inverts his attention onto himself, showcasing a series of sensitive self-portraits that reflect an alienated artist caught between cultures and in search of identity – a feeling of fragmentation familiar to anyone who has experienced the estrangement of migration.

Raised in suburban Melbourne to Sicilian parents, Nunzio Miano’s upbringing as a child “perpetually on the outskirts of belonging” fostered in him a painterly fascination with issues of identity, belonging, and the mask. Driven by an intuitive desire to discover his subjects through the intimate exchange of portraiture, Miano’s expressive style draws its energy from an improvisatory impulse, animating his characters with spontaneous strokes of vivid colour that, more than describe likeness, gives us insight into their inner world. It is in this interior, emotional landscape beneath the surface that Miano holds up the mirror so that we may recognise ourselves.