Michelle Gagliano

The practice

Artist profile

Michelle Gagliano approaches painting as a relationship between material, landscape and memory. Earth, minerals, plants and changing light are not only subjects within the image; they inform how each surface is prepared and how colour develops through the work.

Her paintings often move between landscape and abstraction. Translucent layers allow light to travel through mineral tones, muted colour and flashes of gold. Weather, water and geological time seem present, but the image remains open enough for memory and sensation to complete it.

Research into Renaissance techniques and historical studio knowledge is central to this approach. Tradition becomes a living resource rather than a nostalgic style: a way to understand pigment, oil, ground and durability with greater intimacy. That knowledge gives the paintings their quiet luminosity and connects the image to the physical origins of its materials.

Methods and evidence

Sustainability and practice

Gagliano’s studio practice includes handmade natural and earth pigments, traditional oils, carefully prepared grounds and considered low-toxicity choices. Materials are assessed for origin, behaviour and longevity as well as colour. The emphasis is on understanding what enters the painting and how it will endure.

Her approach frames sustainability as reciprocity with the living world rather than a separate message. Historical knowledge can reduce dependence on some highly synthetic processes, while slow layering and durable construction support a long life for the finished work. The practice remains one of careful development, not a claim that painting can be environmentally neutral.