Growing up in a migrant Sicilian family in Australia, Antonia Perricone Mrljak was surrounded by creativity long before she recognized its significance. Her family, driven by necessity, made everything by hand—sewing, cooking, farming—instinctively crafting a world of survival and self-sufficiency. Without formal education, she relied on intuition to navigate her path, shaping a career that was anything but conventional.
Her first venture into creativity came through fashion, an industry she understood deeply from her family’s extravagant and handmade wardrobe. But fashion school felt restrictive, too much like the cultural boundaries she was trying to escape. At 16, she landed a position in the advertising department at David Jones, thinking it would be retail work. Instead, it introduced her to styling and coordination, an opening into a much broader creative world.
Her career spanned television, magazines, and millinery, each experience sharpening her artistic instincts. Yet, when she became a mother, she walked away from it all. Devoting herself to family, she set aside her creative impulses—until the absence of expression became too much to bear. A friend intervened, placing canvases and paint at her door. With no formal art education, she hesitated at first but soon found herself lost in the process.
Abstract art became her language, a way to communicate emotions that words could not. For Antonia, abstraction was an extension of her upbringing—where everything was made from nothing, where survival was instinctual. In a world where some dismiss abstract work as simple, she embraced the challenge, understanding that true expression is layered with complexity.
Recognition didn’t come overnight. She treated her art as a profession, balancing commissions with personal projects while ensuring financial stability. Six years into the commercial art world, her pieces—sometimes spanning meters in length—are now sought after by collectors, designers, and architects. Social media helped bridge the gap, making her work accessible to those who resonated with its raw authenticity.
Her process is deeply personal. When creating commissioned pieces, she immerses herself in the client’s world, ensuring that the final work reflects both her vision and theirs. She doesn’t hold onto her pieces; she wants them to live beyond her, to be part of homes and stories that extend past her own experience.
Education, she believes, is fundamental—not just in art but in life. Travel, literature, philosophy—any experience that deepens understanding will inevitably enrich an artist’s work. She mentors emerging artists with this in mind, advising them to develop skills outside of art itself, knowing that a well-rounded perspective strengthens creative expression.
While she remains dedicated to abstraction, she is open to evolution. Whether incorporating poetry or revisiting portraiture, she refuses to be confined by expectation. Her upcoming solo exhibition on the Snowy River Project reflects her ongoing exploration of identity, migration, and perseverance—concepts that have shaped both her life and her art.
Antonia’s journey is one of tenacity, instinct, and unwavering belief in her craft. She doesn’t create to please an audience; she creates because she must. And in doing so, she has built a career that is as much about expression as it is about survival—just as it has always been.