Failing art at school wasn’t enough to deter Adele Bevacqua. She proves that sometimes, you just need to back yourself to achieve your dreams. Now a fully fledged abstract artist, Adele is balancing motherhood, painting and even her very own clothing brand. Talk about a powerhouse!
Read our latest artist chat as you discover and fall in love with the expressive, emotional abstract art from Adele Bevacqua.
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Discouraged by her art teacher at school, it wasn’t until after graduation that Adele’s art career began.
“I always really loved art but failed it in Grade 7, then never took it up again until I needed a portfolio to enter uni. My messy, unstructured style upset art teachers, I think,” recalls Adele with a laugh.
“From uni I went into fashion illustration, which bored me a little, and I officially landed on abstract 10 or so years ago.
I love the challenge, the unknown, the beauty of directing a painting anywhere you want it to go, and that it doesn’t have to look a particular way. I also find it much more expressive and emotional both to paint and view.
Fortunately her family were supportive of her art and they encouraged her to pursue her passion.
“My earliest art memory was during school holidays travelling up to my Nanna in Atherton/Fitzroy Island. We did plein air painting together (painting in the landscape) and it sparked something in me.
“From a young age my uncle also saw something in my art. He would cheer me on by getting all these quotes from artists printed onto t-shirts!”
Take just one look at Adele’s art and you’ll see her inspiration is clearly colour.
“I love colour so much! It all started when I lived in India, on exchange, studying fashion. Colour was everywhere, and deep, saturated colour.
“I think sometimes in Australia we go so neutral and that can lack a lot of energy and hope. I just love what colour communicate and what it does to your overall mood.
Even though I don’t paint much representative art I’m always picking up on ideas and colour combos from nature around me.
“There’s nothing more beautiful than wildflowers, sunset on the beach, the Tasmanian wilderness, bougainvilleas… any form of nature really.”
While wild abstracts form most of Adele’s works, you will spy an occasional floral in the mix.
“A year or so ago I went to GOMA in Brisbane and saw a Monet piece in person, I just fell in love and it naturally filters through to my paintings. I’m still navigating how this looks, but definitely will always have an abstract lens to it. Who doesn’t love flowers!” she laughs.
Adele hasn’t lost her fashion roots and actually started her own clothing brand committed to celebrating artists and ‘all things colour’.
“I’ve always wanted to fuse art and fashion together in a meaningful way. I also was just getting so sick of the overly digitised prints in the shops, so decided to start my own label called House of Aya. Aya means colour in Japanese.” she explains.
“The range currently includes floaty colourful dresses, but in the future I hope to also dive into swimwear!
Launching a fashion/art brand has always been a huge dream of mine. I can’t wait to collaborate with Australian artists. I’d like to be an advocate for the arts in our country.
“In future collections, I’d like to collaborate with other Australian artists and support their work.”
Having recently taken the plunge as full-time artist, we asked Adele what other dreams she has for the future.
“It’s taken some guts but I just decided life’s too short,” she says.
“I’d love to be a finalist in a big art prize or win a smaller one! And learning how to develop a swimwear range with House of Aya,” she says excitedly.
There’s no doubt Adele Bevacqua is an Australian abstract artist to watch! You can connect with Adele on Instagram or check out her website for current available works.
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