The Last Cigarette

"The Last Cigarette" captures a sentimental moment that every smoker is familiar with, the idea of having the last cigarette one is ever going to have. The piece is less about smoking and more about endings and new beginnings, and engaging in a cycle of change. The artwork is humorous, as more often than not the moment of "the last cigarette" is often a lie. But whether or not it is even true, the artist endeavours to capture the moment in which an individual believes that they can actually change. Executed as an oil pastel drawing, the artwork is bright and nostalgic. The vibrantly coloured sunset breathes optimism into the affirmation "I can change".

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Eric Sesto (1995) is self-taught artist and muralist working dominantly in painting and drawing.

Sesto has painted public murals in six countries across Oceania, Central America and South America. Most notably, Sesto’s mural in Guayaquil, Ecuador became permanently conserved by the city in 2020.

Sesto embarked on two painting tours of Central and South America in 2017 and 2018 respectively. As a result, his 2018 exhibition at Neon Parlour “Planet Paradise” bore paintings that were bursting with vitality and colour. The improvised “free-flow” of this body took direct references the murals he painted and the photographs he captured of the region.

The artist’s 2019 body developed dramatically into a unique palette of colour dominated by hyper-red. Combining figurative portraiture with intense colour-field abstractions, Sesto became fascinated with the telecommunication network. The “One The Phone” series embodies the changing state of intimacy in our globalised world; and portrays an instance of people becoming hyper-emotional with technology.

The artist does not believe in art that is intended to push particular agendas or perspectives. The artist is instead intrigued by the ambiguity of imagery and the power of symbology. The work channels how intense visuals are able to be in their rawest state without the assistance of language to endow them power. Rather than a message, Sesto sees each painting as “an emotional cocktail of things we feel everyday”.

Sesto has a Bachelor of Architectural Design obtained from The University of Queensland, graduating in 2015.