Artist Spotlight - Syndy Esteves — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

Biography

Cinzia (Syndy) Esteves is an Australian contemporary visual artist, painter, writer, poet, and wild brumby advocate whose multidisciplinary practice operates at the intersection of meaningful art, political theory, and philosophical inquiry. Following a distinguished twenty-nine-year career within the architectural industry, Syndy transitioned fully to her artistic vocation in 2013.

‘UNDER BLUE SKIES & ETHEREAL FREEDOM’ 2022. Wild Brumby Spirit of the Mountain rehomed. Stallion left intact for future rewildering. Oil on canvas 96.5x133cm

She attained a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours from the University of New South Wales in 2018, later attending classes in classical human portraiture at the historic Julian Ashton Art School between 2019 and 2020.

‘ARROW BOY & THE DEATH OF KHEIRON’ 2022. Arrow Boy was ground culled in September of 2022. Oil on canvas 76x56cm

Actively exhibiting across Australia and international online platforms since 2019, her creative trajectory is defined by a sequential chain of mnemonic and ethereal experiences. These profound encounters link her foundational investigations of ancestral lineage and everyday social conditions directly to the critical preservation of Australia’s post-native wild brumby horses.

‘WHERE THE SNOW FALLS & THE DANDELIONS GROW’ 2022. Wild Brumby named Irish unsighted since 2013. Oil on canvas 133x96.5cm

Retaining a fine line along the complex boundaries between art and contemporary environmental politics, Syndy utilizes traditional oil painting and hyper detailed drawings using portraiture to grant a sovereign voice to the sentient brumbies currently afflicted by Australian legislative mandates. Her practice reconstructs the biographies of the everyday life of the brumbies.

‘WHERE THE SNOW FALLS & BRUMBIES PLAY’ 2022. Wild Brumby named Snip Still wild last sighted June 2026. Oil on canvas 132x97cm

As a post-native species, their evolutionary descent comes from rare bloodlines and Waler ancestral stocks with a traceable DNA make-up, having evolved from the horses that landed on Australian shores with the First Fleet of January 1788, thereby confronting systemic paradigms of speciesism and animal subjugation.

WHERE THE SKY IS BLUE & THE EARTH IS GOLD’ 2022 Mischief & Aussie Born July 2022. Mischief born to mare Sassy & Aussie born to mare Scarlet. ‘Alla Prima’ oil on canvas 66x56cm

This dedication to illuminating the brumbies' narratives has resonantly connected with international audiences. In August 2025, her advocacy and practice were recognized with the Collectors Art Prize/Art Legends of Our Time certificate by Contemporary Art Collectors Magazine, accompanied by a curated ten-question profile dedicated to the plight of the brumbies.

‘UNDER BLUE SKIES & TALL SHADOWS CAST’ 2022. Wild Brumby Shadow rehomed. Stallion left intact for future rewildering.. Oil on canvas 76x56cm

Furthermore, these visual testaments have been recognized by the Pinacothèque of the Luxembourg Art Prize, which honoured her with four successive Certificates of Artistic Achievement between 2021 and 2025. Grounded in a profound philosophy of creative empathy, her enduring mission is encapsulated in her guiding mantra:

“When I see a field of dandelions, all I see is a sea of wishes. Be their voice in the wind.”

‘ABOVE BLUE SKIES LAYS A RAY OF SUNSHINE’ 2022. Sunshine a wild foal of the Sunshine mob died of ‘natural selection’. ‘Alla Prima’ oil on canvas 56x66cm

Artist Statement

“When I see a field of dandelions, all I see is a sea of wishes. Be their voice in the wind.”

Syndy’s creative practice exists at the intersection of meaningful art, philosophy, and political theory, deeply informed by personal life experiences and the power of the mnemonic.

‘WHERE THE DANDELIONS GROW AND THE BRUMBIES RUN FREE’ 2022. Smokey wild foal of the Sunshine mob born after the passing of his sister Sunshine. Sunshine mob last references 2023. ‘Alla Prima’ oil on canvas 66x56cm

Originating from a childhood love of horses, her journey followed an inevitable chain of mnemonic events and experiences, linking her research of family and the individual within everyday life to the wild brumbies of Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales, Australia.

'WHERE THE SKY IS BLUE & THE RAIN DON’T FALL’ 2024. Tadpole (on right) & Swifty Born at Clearview 2023. ‘Alla Prima’ oil on canvas 76x56cm

Today, Australian law labels these wild brumbies as an invasive species, subjecting them to ground and aerial culling, trapping, and knackeries. For Syndy, this political upheaval magnifies a broader crisis within the human condition that governs the environmental management of flora and fauna. Through individual portraiture, her work challenges prevailing theories of freedom, labels, and speciesism, ultimately questioning the rights of animals within our society.

‘Annie is Running through the Dandelion Now’ Feb. 2022. Annie in the wild when found orphaned. Died 2022. Ink charcoal & graphite. A3 canson paper 225gm

The resulting artwork is ethereal and geographically distant from the brumbies themselves; thus, Syndy relies on a collective archive compiled through her advocacy work. She utilizes references from rehomers, independent photographers, and occasionally her own encounters, meticulously tracing the history, background, and family lineage of each individual brumby she decides to voice.

‘Arrow Boy eating the dandelions, the wild dandelions’ 2021 Arrow Boy study for painting. Arrow Boy ground culled September 2022. Ink charcoal & graphite. A3 canson paper 225gm

Driven by a love for the tactile, physical process of creation, Syndy personally stretches and primes each canvas. Her deep affinity for old-world art manifests in her use of traditional oil painting methods and a restricted palette, mixing most of her colours from an array of primary hues. She juxtaposes the macabre reality of the brumbies' plight against the individual sentient portrait to tell their stories, embedding hidden meanings within colour choices, titles, and compositions.

‘Where ‘wishes’ are plentiful & Jim-Jim lives ‘free’ with brumbies’ 2024 Jim-Jim born at Clearview now in a forever home. Colour pencils & charcoal on A3 black canson paper 140gm

Syndy’s drawings are executed in coloured pencil or mixed media, incorporating charcoal, graphite, and other materials, while her monochrome work is rendered with traditional ink drafting pens or graphite pencils. Unlike her paintings where she starts with a grisaille base, her drawings employ single strokes from the outset. In both mediums, however, she meticulously applies fine, layered lines to build up the texture of the brumby fur.

‘I can feel the dandelions now mum’ Freddie 2022. Blind wild colt sighted with his mum in KNP 2022. Never seen again since. Fine liners & ink on A3 canson paper 220gm

Ultimately, Syndy uses individual portraiture to attach a lived biography, real history, and family lineage to each brumby. The brumbies portrayed are now missing, dead, or rehomed; by documenting their everyday lives, she restores a voice to the sentient.