The painting is an area where my father, who was a migrant fisherman would visit regularly on the south coast . It has significant meaning for me as a place where I spent a lot of time . It is embedded in my memories.

Steve Lopes is a Sydney-based painter known for his figurative landscapes. He often works en plein air, painting vignettes that he uses as references for large-scale studio works. His work reflects on our age of complexity, volatility and crisis through thematic narratives of migration and place. An inveterate traveller since his youth, Lopes's insatiable curiosity for new experiences drives his art and desire to tell stories, connecting the threads of history and place with the people who have shaped them.

He has exhibited extensively around the world, with more than 45 solo shows, and a recent major touring survey show, Encountered, at the S.H. Ervin Gallery in Sydney and Orange Regional Gallery. His work is held in public and private collections internationally, including The National Gallery of Australia and Parliament House in Canberra, The Winsor and Newton Collection UK, Rolls Royce UK, Time Warner New York.
He was recently awarded the Gallipoli Art Prize, after travelling to the former battlefields of the Western Front in France and Belgium. He was invited to exhibit works in the touring exhibition Salient - Contemporary Artists at the Western Front and was the recipient of the prestigious Kings School Art Prize in 2021.

*Please note artwork will not be shipped until after the 2024 Finalist Exhibition which ends in mid-October 2024.