---
title: Ester Pugliese
description: Contemporary painter of multi-sensory translations of sound and memory
url: "https://www.artsume.com/a/ester-pugliese"
type: artist
createdAt: 2026-04-16
updatedAt: 2026-08-26
disciplines:
  - Painting
  - Drawing
  - Installation
  - Mixed Media
location: "Toronto, ON, Canada"
birthYear: 1977
---

# Ester Pugliese

*Contemporary painter of multi-sensory translations of sound and memory | Painting, Drawing, Installation, Mixed Media | Based in Toronto, ON, Canada*

## Artist Statement

My practice investigates how lived experience can be processed and retained when memory and language prove unreliable. I have long been aware of the limits of my own memory, which led me to adopt photography as a way to capture and stabilize fleeting moments. At the same time, I have relied on non-verbal forms such as music and painting to articulate experiences that resist direct expression.
My recent work brings these concerns together through a process of walking, recording sound, and collecting photographic material. Using audio-derived structures alongside images gathered during these walks, I construct paintings that function as composite translations rather than direct representations of place.
These works operate as a form of externalized memory, where sensory fragments are reassembled into a cohesive visual language. In doing so, I aim to explore how attention, perception, and recollection can be materially held and re-encountered through painting.

## Biography

Ester Pugliese is a Toronto-based mixed media artist whose abstracted landscapes reimagine familiar places through layered, intuitive compositions. Her work has been exhibited at the MacLaren Art Centre and Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant, and is held in public and corporate collections, including the Donovan Collection at the University of St. Michael’s College and Capital One. Her work has been reviewed in The Globe and Mail.

## Curriculum Vitae

### Education

- **2004** - Postgraduate Certificate, in Arts Administration and Cultural Management, Humber College, Etobicoke, (Board of Governors Achievement Award, Academic Award of Excellence )
- **2001** - BFA, in Painting, York University, Toronto, (Specialized Honours, Continuing Student Scholarship, Canadian Italian Business & Professional Association Scholarship from the BCI Bank of Italy, Susan Mann Award for Academic Exchange from York International, Tuition Scholarship for Academic Exchange)
- **2000** - 1-Year International Exchange in the BA Fine Art Program, in Painting, Bretton Hall College of the University of Leeds, Wakefield