Built This Way
David Bongiorno
Built This Way [detail] 2025
Portrait of Karl S. Williams
Oil on canvas
90 x 60 cm
About the Artwork
Karl S. Williams is a consummate musician renowned for his emotionally charged lyrics and powerful voice. Winner of the GCMA Artist of the Year (2015) and Queensland Music Awards (2018, 2020), he commands stages across Queensland with his unforgettable performances.
Embracing traditional atelier techniques, I painted Karl freehand to maintain an authentic, painterly quality. Using refined old-world methods and the impassioned impasto of energetic strokes, I wanted his quiet presence to command the viewer’s attention from across the room.
I have painted Karl’s ‘holy man’ countenance purposefully as it belies the raw passion of his live performance, capturing the man behind the music. Bathed in dramatic light and positioned close to the picture plane, Karl becomes a commanding presence. His eyes follow the viewer while simultaneously drawing the viewer back to meet his gaze and see his honesty.
About the Artist
David Bongiorno is an award-winning figurative artist working in Maleny, Queensland. His work explores the inherent beauty in form and movement, capturing the underlying psyche of physical expression through figurative artworks, portraiture and self-portraiture, and the imposed meaning of objects through still life. He cites influences from the Renaissance to the early 20th century across painting, photography, and design.
Selected achievements include the Performing Arts and Music Prize winner, Brisbane Portrait Prize (2025), Highly Commended at the Lethbridge $20,000 Small Scale Art Award (2024), Highly Commended at the Waterbrook Drawing Prize (2023), and Emerging Wearable Artist Winner at the Australian Wearable Art Festival (2022).