About

Close up of roughly textured surface of a painting

Reflexions, echoes, reverberating back and back to infinity: I have discovered the pleasure of having a long past behind me ... a background to the diaphanous present; a background that gives its colour and its light, just as rocks or sand show through the shifting brilliance of the sea.
- Simone de Beauvoir

The play of daylight on a decaying plaster wall. A line carved through space by an outflung arm. The planes and folds of a face, expression revealed in the shadows, the lines of a life fully lived. Inspiration is in all of these. Creation is the struggle to capture light, line and life with words or with paint.

Dorian is the professional name of Australian artist and writer Anna Mandoki. Anna has a Diploma in Professional Writing & Editing from RMIT Melbourne, and has completed a VCA short course in Painting Techniques. She has previously lived in London and Budapest, and now lives and creates on Wurundjeri woi wurrung country in Naarm (Melbourne), Australia.

A constant theme in Anna's work is the experience of migration and ideas of home. Her multi-layered paintings incorporate textures of soil, photographs, sand and paint to create emotionally expressive works evoking echoes of place, memory and time.

For information about Anna's writing and books, please visit her dedicated website: annamandokiwords.com.

Photograph of artist Dorian (Anna Mandoki), standing in front of two large paintings.

Painting of a woman's head and shoulders against a colourful, textured background. The woman faces slightly to the right. Her right hand is lifted to her head. She is wearing a green jumper.

Painting Awards

2023 Bluethumb Art Prize - Finalist

2022 Percival Portrait Painting Prize - Finalist

2022 Southern Buoy Studios Portrait Prize - Finalist