My aim is intangible and intricate, personal: the beauty of individuality and the rich history of being; human aspiration creating lasting and complex value. It is a reflection of a journey: old dreams and new; things past and things longed for; comforts and pick-me-ups; friends and companions; seasons of time. Creating within physical boundaries something that is bound only by the spirit.
This is my dream job. It is work but with a passion to the point of compulsion. A creative Spirit to guide me and I try to stay out of its way and let the work form through intuition and then later judge it’s progress. The work never comes directly from the physical world but is expressionistic and distorted in colour and form; searching for an emotional response over recognition. It is the marriage of the impossible with the imperative. There is also an intellectual challenge in resolving the aesthetic forces of each piece: the composition, colour balance, focal point; all influencing the harmony.
The work is figurative; often drawn with charcoal line on canvas, loaded with oil paint in wild strokes of whim and fine detail of fancy. I’m attracted to line and strong colour with unusual combinations of pattern and composition. The style is unconventional; not literal but romantic; not sentimental but mythical; not realistic but ethereal. The themes are humanistic: love, loss, poignant fantasy, hope, happy days, dreams, courage and fear. I paint initially for myself but it is a great joy when my work touches someone else; it is unfulfilled until it affects others. In summation, painting is satisfaction to my soul.
Matthew Hargrave was born and grew up in the coal mining town of Kurri Kurri, NSW. He graduated from university with a Bachelor of Science degree and taught Science for many years before becoming a full time artist. Matthew has had several successful exhibitions of his work and is represented in several galleries and private collections. He now lives in Wangi Wangi and is married with four children and four grand children.
