Peter Stichbury graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University in 1997 and in the same year won the prestigious Wallace Art Awards prize.
His clone-like portraits of clean faced, flawlessly polished and wide eyed figures seem both captivating and uncanny. They have a graphic flatness almost like comic strip art with extraordinarily fine detail. He often paints generalised stereotypes of social groups instead of specific character studies that traditional portrait painters seek to achieve.
Stichbury uses a cool colour palette- icy blue for eyes and porcelain cream for the skin. His subjects show no sign of warmth and despite their manicured appearances they avert their eyes as if nervous or insecure. If anything, the images he produces incite feelings of isolation or alienation.
Peter Stichbury’s work is owned by many institutions including Auckland Art Gallery and Te Papa Museum of New Zealand as well as in many private collections both in New Zealand and internationally.
