About the artist

Maree Nicolaci was born and raised in Melbourne to immigrant Italian parents: her mother studied fashion design and her father was a tailor.  Therefore, it was only natural that their creativity and appreciation of form, fashion and function would pass on to her.

​

From her earliest years, Maree was always creating – building houses out of shoe boxes, recycling old pieces of metal into jewellery, sculpting clay figures, teaching herself  to read and play music. 

​

Studying art and design, Maree developed a love for sculpture and creating large limestone monuments, but chose to major in portraiture and sold her very first portrait (a pastel drawing) at a group Exhibition 

at The Age Gallery in Melbourne.

​

Maree's art is heavily influenced by the works of Matisse, and French post-impressionists Gauguin and Cézanne. The palm branch, featuring prominently in her works, has long been a symbol of triumph, peace and eternal life, and was sacred in Mesopotamian religions and represented immortality in ancient Egypt.

​

Colours from the Bahamas, Casablanca, Cuba, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, the serenity of Uluwatu and Bophut, the stylish atmosphere of di Vico Equense, Venice and Giardini Naxos are all reflected in her works.

​

Maree's own joie de vivre and passion for far horizons are key to driving the months of dedicated input to create a single art piece.