Exhibitions

Wangaratta-born, Melbourne-based artist Matthew Harris explores dominant power structures and historical narratives through a socially critical and conceptual practice in painting and sculpture. In Overland, Harris turns his focus to the lasting impact of colonisation on the Wangaratta region and its First Peoples, presenting a new series of paintings informed by historical documents. Using natural ochres and charcoal on hessian - a material chosen for its colonial associations and textile history - Harris weaves together personal and ancestral stories with broader material and cultural legacies.

Alongside this new body of work, Overland features With a Warm Embrace, 2023, a major textile sculpture held in the Wangaratta Art Gallery collection. Created in tribute to Harris’ grandmother, who spent her working life at the Wangaratta Woollen Mills, the sculpture is inspired by her original design for a pair of koala toys handmade from her husband’s clothes and remnant wool. Harris reimagines this familial object using recycled felt and acrylic yarn sourced from the mills, honouring both personal memory and local industry.


Image: Matthew Harris, With a Warm Embrace, 2023, recycled industrial felt, Wangaratta Woolen Mills acrylic yarn, gesso, acrylic paint, river stones, polyester filling, 2 objects, 95 x 80 x 75cm each. Wangaratta Art Gallery Collection. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by the artist.