Transitory Stories is an exhibition centred around a large-scale linocut print by Chilean-born, Australian-based artist Miguel (Andy) Villanueva. Previously exhibited as part of the 2024 Burnie Print Prize in Tasmania, this latest iteration in Brisbane extends the work’s evolving narrative—one shaped by movement, shifting perspectives, and the layered experiences of migration.
At its core, Transitory Stories explores everyday urban life through the lens of a migrant, documenting the social, cultural, and political textures of Narrm (Melbourne) and the fleeting moments in public life.
Carved using traditional linocut techniques, the work blends personal memory with collective history. It draws on the visual language of the Lira Popular, an 18th-century Chilean print tradition that made stories accessible to those with limited literacy—using bold graphic forms and direct narratives to foster engagement. In a similar spirit, Transitory Story seeks to open up space for recognition and belonging through visual storytelling.
This new presentation not only introduces the work to Brisbane audiences but also adds to the transitory nature of the piece itself—reshaped by geography, context, and the evolving stories it carries. Rooted in the artist’s own experience of arriving in Melbourne in 2018, Transitory Stories maps the intersections of place, identity, and the ongoing search for cultural connection through the language of printmaking.
Miguel (Andy) Villanueva is a Chilean visual artist who has been based in Australia since 2018. He currently works as a Master Linocut and Etching Printmaker for Aboriginal Art Centres, bringing 18 years of experience in relief printing on paper and textiles using wood and linoleum. Andy’s work critically engages with themes such as poverty, folklore, culture, and social inequality.
He has published five books and regularly conducts community-focused printmaking workshops. His work has been exhibited in Chile, Peru, Italy, and across Australia, with solo shows in Melbourne including En Tránsito (Soma Gallery, 2018), Human Vices (Soma Gallery, 2019), The Blood is Money (Blak Dot Gallery, 2022), and Blood and Earth (Red Gallery, 2023). In 2023, Andy was awarded the A1 Darebin Art Salon Exhibiting Prize, and a solo exhibition at Bundoora Homestead Art Centre in 2024.
This is Villanueva’s first exhibition in Brisbane and with PARKER Contemporary.
