Trauma and Grace (Portrait of Vito Bernasconi after injury)
Scott Breton
- Sitter: Vito Bernasconi
- Medium: Oil on Linen
- Dimensions: 185 x 185 cm
- Representation: Lethbridge Gallery
About the artist
Scott Breton finished a science degree but ended up putting aside a career in biotechnology to pursue a career as an artist. In 2012 he won the highly contested A.M.E. Bale Travelling Scholarship. With this award under belt he did further study with contemporary classical artists in the US and Europe, valuing the relevance of Renaissance thinking and aesthetics in 21st century art. This shows in his work where he uses traditional drawing, painting and sculpting media as well as digital, creating detailed and intense paintings where the classical meets the contemporary. Breton was a cofounder of The International Arts and Culture Group (TIAC Group) in 2016, and now spends his time between Brisbane, Australia and Florence, Italy, working on his compositions and arts education projects.
About the sitter
Vito Bernasconi is a soloist with Queensland Ballet and a talented choreographer. Originally from Sydney and trained at the Australian Ballet School, he and Scott Breton joined forces on collaborative compositions in 2018. Their collaborations changed direction when in early 2019, Vito suffered a severe shoulder injury in a car accident. “To learn of this happening to him was horrifying to me,” says Scott, “particularly because as a dancer his body is his creative instrument. I began to work on studies of him shortly after he left hospital, not sure what frame of mind I would find him in, but I was moved by the graceful acceptance he showed, and the workmanlike attitude he brought to his commitment to recovery.” Vito is fully recovered and dancing once more with the Queensland Ballet.
