For Antonia Perricone-Mrljak, there is memory in mark-making. Her daily practice cycles through ideas of connection, liberation and identity upon the painted surface. The repetition of mark-making gives order to Perricone-Mrljak’s process, which is concerned with myriad layered emotional and cultural ideas. It is a cycle of recollection that refines her creative output, providing it with depth and intention. In this way, Perricone-Mrljak’s works become a palimpsest of personal experience and growth. This mode of communication is instinctive for the artist and invites the viewer to connect with her work and reflect on their own experiences. Although highly personal, this effect is so closely interwoven with the repetition of mark making that the viewer is also able to access and draw comparisons to their own memories and experiences: marks built by memory, expressive and layered records that trace the line of the emotional landscape.

In her most recent exhibition, Harvest Day Night, Perricone-Mrljak traces the line of her mark-making in a rich narrative of harvest. Like her practice, harvest is tied to repetition and process; the paintings in this body of work clearly delineate the passage of time and labour. In colour, works move from day to night, interspersed with rich verdant compositions – the harvest. Upon the canvas, Perricone-Mrljak’s emphatic line-making speak to the labour and repetition that leads to growth. For the artist, the harvest is a heady metaphor, not only of growth, but of process and memory. Ancient practices passed down through generations and personal journeys through life – in each there is a necessary balance between the light and the dark, as well as the rhythm of ongoing movement and labor. The harvest is a historical and universal act of survival.

Antonia Perricone-Mrljak graduated from Sydney College of the Arts in 2018. Since which, the artist’s profile has continued to build. Most recently, in 2021, the artist was named a finalist in both the Paddington Art Prize and the Waverly Art Prize. In 2019 she undertook a major performance-based painting installation at Sydney Contemporary. Her work is widely collected in corporate and private collections across Australia.