Luana Montebello

Luana Montebello (b.1992) is a self-taught artist based in Malta. Her drawings, which are hyperrealistic in style, seek to find a balance between the solemnity of precision and the capriciousness of play. Each medium, with its unique characteristics, is used to convey a different form of expression. Using her preferred materials of graphite and charcoal, her work explores the beauty and subtleties of forms, from the vast landscapes of the human figure, to the silent bones beneath, amplifying the emotions at the core of the human experience. Luana also works with pen and ink using the stippling technique, studying the relationship between objects and the natural world, one single dot at a time. 

A podiatrist by profession, human anatomy has been her main source of inspiration, allowing her to explore ideas concerning the human condition, loneliness, history, and the passage of time. Albeit the seemingly stark contrast between her work in medicine and art, she believes they are bound together in one paradoxical reality, and both are needed to nourish and sustain life.