Sarah Gnecco (b. London) is an Australian based artist whose paintings and drawings explore myths, dreams and desires. She often uses found materials-papers, books and other fragments. She is drawn to their sense of mystery and intimacy- like a crinkly notebook kept in someone’s pocket and taken out from time to time to jot down an idea or a phrase overheard.  

“I’m fascinated with the notion of secrets (and the hidden).”

An avid drawer and painter from an early age, Gnecco has aphantasia- a blank ‘mind’s eye’ without visual mental images. 

“I have no prior idea or image in mind when making work, and don’t plan my compositions. Drawing and painting is the way I process the world and my imagination- like speaking. “ 

She tends to favour fluid materials like ink, watercolour and gouache, as these allow her to work quickly and directly onto paper. 

Based in Australia, she has spent periods working and studying in London, Berlin, Edinburgh, Amsterdam and Chicago.

Gnecco studied in Sydney, first completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the National Art School, and then a Master of Studio Art at Sydney College of the Arts. 

She is the recipient of an Ian Potter Foundation Cultural Trust Grant and a Netherland-America Foundation Cultural Grant and has taken part in residency programs such as SIM Residency, Reykjavik, BLO Ateliers and Takt, Berlin and Kunstlerhaus Vorwerkstift, Hamburg. Gnecco has exhibited at Verge Gallery, Sydney, Laneways Festival, Cellblock Theatre, National Art School, Sydney, SIM Gallery, Reykjavik, Takt, Berlin, Next Wave Festival, Melbourne and the Seymour Centre, Sydney. 

She is currently working on a new project called Ciphers, researching ancient codices.