Peter Wegner (born 1953 in New Zealand) is a Melbourne-based figurative painter, sculptor, and draughtsman .

His recent work has focused on portraiture and figurative subjects, the study, and examination of the human. He is recording time and the passing of a moment, and to quote John Berger, painting and drawing “forces us to stop and enter its time. “

Being a witness to people's lives for a short moment, and using the portrait as part of the shared experience. An example of this is his series on Centenarians, of which he has drawn over 90 – a celebration of longevity and resilience. This journey also includes long-term portraits of friend and colleague Graeme Doyle, spanning over 35 years, which forms a seamless act of intense scrutiny and affection. They record time spent together and Graeme’s battle with schizophrenia. It is the revisiting ritual valued and documentation of the years past.

The measurement of time is a reoccurring theme with the chairs and couches in the studio. They show the signs of deterioration, wonderfully worn by the wear tear of continual use. Their dilapidated, timeworn surfaces retain evidence of a sitter’s presence, which has depressed the leather and left marks of accidental damage over time. After its functional life is over, a chair or couch serves as a reminder of past or gone, certainly a memento to past occupants and friends.

Peter consistently returns to paint the same chair, and often the same subject with nothing ever staying the same, we are always in a state of continuous flux.