A Designer's Perspective

EP #07 Sandro Nocentini - The Soul Behind the Canvas

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Sandro Nocentini is an Italian-born, Sydney-based artist, art educator and curator whose work is held in private collections around the world. Known for his richly layered figurative paintings and his award-winning piece recognised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales ... Sandro brings to his practice a sculptor's love of the body, a poet's sensitivity to story, and a deeply human approach to what it means to make something that truly resonates.

In this episode, Sandro shares what the creative process actually looks like behind closed studio doors ... and it's far from the romantic cliché. He unpacks the emotional weight of making art that can "survive the intention of the artist" and speak to whoever encounters it, why he sees artworks as poems rather than pretty pictures, and how a single award-winning painting — one that now belongs to his son — both launched and complicated his career. He also explores his current body of work stripping colour from his practice entirely, the tension between artistic freedom and expectation, and what he believes AI can and cannot do in the creative space.

Key Takeaways

  • Art is not decoration if a painting only matches the sofa, Sandro believes it's a pretty picture, not an artwork. True art survives the artist's intention and reflects the emotion of the person who ultimately receives it.
  • Great artworks often happen rather than get planned. Some of the most powerful pieces in history fell into something unexpected ... that's the beauty and the risk of real creative exploration.
  • Choosing art for your home should feel like recognising a familiar language. Sandro's advice: go and look. When something speaks to you, you'll know ... no curator required.
  • When designers use art as a starting point, they unlock a more personally connected interior. Rather than sourcing art to complement a finished room, the real magic happens when art leads and the space is built around it.
  • Winning the Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW was a turning point ... and not just for the recognition. The pressure that followed taught Sandro that his greatest duty is to enjoy the process and make what he loves, not to duplicate success.
  • Sandro's current black-and-white series is a deliberate experiment ... stripping colour back to explore whether body language, form and shadow alone can carry an emotional story. It's his most challenging and quietly brave work yet.
  • Creativity needs human curiosity. When Sandro challenged AI to generate an image in his style, the result was technically assembled but soulless ... no poetry, no softness, no human sentiment.
  • Art curation is its own skill ... knowing how to make a meaningful, personal artwork sit beautifully within a living space takes real sensitivity, not just a good eye for colour.
  • Stories are what connect us. Whether it's a painting that took two years, a niece growing up, or a portrait of a newborn son ... art, at its best, is just a story told in a language that reaches everyone.

    • To find out more about Sandro Nocentini, connect here:

    Sandro's Website 

    Sandro's Instagram

    Thanks so much for tuning in.

    See you next time for more insights from the world of design and creativity.

    Karyn + Helen xx

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    A Designer's PerspectiveBy Karyn McRae & Helen Lynch