Using diverse media and a ‘make do’ and ‘DIY’ philosophy, Matthew Hunt refuses to maintain a cohesive continuum and in turn continues to start again fresh each time he makes something. Taking self-effacement to a new level, Hunt fully admits to not being an Art Genius, of essentially being lost and not knowing what he’s doing. Yet he is driven by notions of freedom, social and political relevance and blind optimism. Pragmatics aside, Hunt navigates a difficult path of personal subjectivity and cultural objectivity. He disembowels both his past and current day-to-day life and charges it with a subtle and sometimes blunt social/cultural critique. He explores various knowledge systems and patterns evident in contemporary life, ranging from the nuances of the everyday to the complex negotiations of institutions and high culture. Much of his work is language based, and an internal and external dialogue, it is the residue of signs and of narrative. Hunt’s ‘project’ is a lonely one, one persons attempt to find something, something undefined. And it is this non-definition that allows for a prime site of discovery, linkage and potential togetherness.

Matthew Hunt (born 1967) has exhibited in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Indonesia and New Zealand. He has exhibited extensively in Australia and has received multiple Australia Council for the Arts and Western Australian Department for the Arts project and new work grants. Hunt has participated in residencies at Christophe Merian Foundation, Basel Switzerland; Artspace, Sydney and The International Art Space Kellerberrin Australia (IASKA). Hunt self-published an extensive monograph titled Backwater in 1996 and has been publishing zines on his work and writing with Dr Robert Cook since. Hunt lives and works in London.