It’s a process of responding to previous choices, of moving towards an image whilst showing the history of events that led it there. In this sense, the work is really a gradual performance whose drama lies in its own making. Funny, sad, whatever - I want them to refer to themselves; they are their own subjects.
Matt Bromhead is a multidisciplinary artist working between drawing, painting, and sculpture.
His practice is centred on a playful self-referential chronology of his process, each artwork going through a long period of change before completion. Transparent papers are stacked, arranged, and taken away until an image appears that feels like it’s on its way to becoming something else. The layers of texture, abstraction, and gesture build up over time, with every decision leaving a trace. What’s left is a delicate balance. Parts might disappear, others come together just right, and through it all, the history of the work quietly shows through. It’s the act of making that becomes the subject.
Bromhead holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from UNSW and has been recognised in national awards including the Jacaranda Drawing Prize (2024), the Dobell Drawing Prize (2021), the Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize (2020), and the Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award (Highly Commended 2019, 2017). He has undertaken residencies across Australia and abroad, including Kedewatan Studio, Gang Gang, CAMAC (France), Bundanon Trust, and DESA (Indonesia).