SURGE 26

Exhibiting 14 young, emerging, local artists from Western-Sydney to lower mountains, SURGE 26 captures the strong movement of these artists as they make a name for themselves and grow and cultivate in their practice.

This year the artists were prompted to create pieces that represented who they are, and their connection to Penrith. Featuring multiple personal interpretations of our beautiful Nepean River.

Amanda Oei Wells

Amanda Oei Wells is an illustrator and Fine Artist who
paints in gouache. She gained recognition as a portrait
painter when she was cast in series one of Portrait Artist of
the Year, with her painting of Adam Liaw taking her through
to the semi-finals of the televised competition.
Oei Wells’ current focus is gouache landscapes; particularly
coastal and river landscapes as the movement of water and
play of light and colours make for an enjoyable challenge.

@amandaoeiwells

Ameliana Božanić

Ameliana is a Wiradjuri woman based in Dharug land. Although she usually uses acrylic and oil paint, her love for tattooing and pursuit of an apprenticeship has brought out a wide variety of works with charcoal, graphite and ink. Her work explores themes of Country, identity, and fantasy, weaving together traditional storytelling with contemporary expression. Through vivid colour and layered imagery, she invites viewers into a dialogue between past and present. Realism and fictional worlds dissolve into one another, giving rise to dreamscapes that honour culture while surrendering to the pull of surrealism.

@_.ameliana

Bryon McIntosh

Byron is a graphic designer and artist based in Sydney. With his go-to medium for his pieces being traditional pen and paper. His process is driven by storytelling, with a focus on building layered narratives into everything he create, grounding both his design work and fine art in a strong, clear story.

@byronthedesigner

Clare Yates

Clare Yates is a local photographer creating on
Dharug land.
Clare’s work captures the world in a feminine
and vibrant lens, often influenced by vintage
themes, complimented by bold fashion. Her
photography captures a sense of magic and
empowerment.

@greengirlphoto

Darren Wells

Darren Wells is a fine artist based in Sydney’s inner west.
Raised in country Victoria, he built his art practice with
digital paintings before turning to traditional mediums,
working primarily in graphite and charcoal. Specialising in
portraiture, he embraces an art style of visible process
and imperfection, a belief that every mark – like every face
– tells a story. Darren has a Bachelor of Arts and was
shortlisted in his heat of ABC’s ‘Portrait Artist of the Year’.

@darrenwellsart

Divya Lotliker

As a visual and performance artist Divya draws on
personal experiences, weaving together themes of
spirituality, nature, femininity and familial ties
between these all. Working across painting,
sculpture, photography, film and performance, her
practice is anchored on the transformative power of
presence and experimentation, as informed by
Eastern philosophies.

@divya.lotliker

Estella Braiser

Estella is an oil painter from Western Sydney who explores portraiture and realism in her paintings. With a theatre and music background, Estella loves to explore human experience and emotion in her pieces. She is very interested in contrast, and using colour to its fullest potential.

@estellabrasierart

Gabriella Sassine

Gabriella Sassine is an Australian Iconographer and sacred artist specialising in traditional Byzantine Iconography and professional gold gilding techniques. Rooted in theological study and traditional craftsmanship, her work combines sacred symbolism, genuine gold lead, and contemplative artistic practice. Her icons have been displayed in Churches and in private homes in Canada, America, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and The Holy Land

@divine_art_by_gabriella

Ilana Lapid

Ilana Lapid is an emerging artist working with found objects
and textiles, with a background in drawing and painting.
Through processes of collection, cleaning, care and
transformation, her work challenges the perception of value of
junk and discarded objects. She believes the chaos and residues of daily life can be a place sparking wonder and humour, deserving of time and attention. She is currently completing her honours in Fine Arts at UNSW.

@lapidilana

Isaac Fazldeen

Isaac Fazldeen is a multidisciplinary artist specialising in pen-and-ink illustrations and linocut relief prints inspired by religion, mythology, gothic literature and popular media. Since completing his Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts at TAFE Northern Rivers he has sustained his arts practice by creating a variety of products featuring his linocut designs and original drawings. His artistic style is influenced by 19th and 20th century illustrators such as Franklin Booth, JC Leyendecker,
and Bernie Wrightson.

@isaac.fazldeen.art

Karina Lulka

Karina is a Ukrainian-born realist painter based in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. After relocating to Australia in 2022 following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, Karina found inspiration in the Australian landscape. Painting became my way of understanding a new place, finding peace, and creating a sense of belonging.

@karina_lulka_art

Liza Moscatelli

A multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Penrith, whose
practice draws on personal experience to explore culture, identity, migration, spirituality, love, philosophy, and social justice. After more than one and half decade working primarily in digital photography, videography, illustration, and graphic design–work that developed into a business–she has been reexamining the purpose of her art. Through a renewed commitment to creating in physical form, she is reconnecting with herself and with the original love for art that began her journey

@lizamoscatelli

Paul Avila Tangian

Paul is a Sydney-based contemporary realist painter whose work explores atmosphere, imagination and the emotional power of the natural world. Working primarily in oil, Tangian creates immersive compositions that move between dramatic landscapes and symbolic organic forms, often blending realism with dreamlike narrative elements. Through layered brushwork, rich colour harmonies, and cinematic compositions, Tangian’s paintings invite viewers into contemplative spaces that feel both deeply personal and timeless

@kqudha

Starphire Jacobs

Starphire is a Wiradjuri Dharug artist
that specialises in hand drawn digital
art, mixing the traditional styles and
techniques of Indigenous practices
with portraiture.

@snarphe