Untitled

For the 19th Biennale of Sydney, Melbourne-based Matt Hinkley presented a new series of sculptural works installed in the Industrial Precinct on Cockatoo Island. Domestic in scale, the works are dwarfed by the vast and visually noisy space surrounding them, rewarding the intrepid viewer with a sense of discovery. Delicate objects in a rough urban environment, the sculptures represent order amid the chaos, quietly challenging our patience and perception. On Cockatoo Island, amid the relics of industry, they appear like strange debris, salvaged from the flotsam and jetsam washed up with the tide.

The artist works across the mediums of sculpture and drawing to create subtly intricate and meticulous works composed from a range of materials including newspapers, obsolete electronic equipment, aluminium tubing, ping-pong balls, silicon and polymer clay. Hinkley’s working methods are meticulous and time-consuming, working with his hands on a small scale. The intimate size and tangible fashion of his practice allow the viewer to place themselves in the body of the artist, to imagine crafting their own tactile creations. Hinkley’s DIY production process reveals the imprecision of the human hand; minute errors and irregularities in pattern celebrate the authenticity of the hand in an age of digital reproduction.

Initially focusing on more traditional two-dimensional drawings with a predilection for optical illusion and interventions on pieces of found paper, Hinkley progressed to drawing on found objects but found difficulty getting ink to adhere to non-porous plastic surfaces. This led to an exploration of other tools and methods that would allow him to draw on objects and incorporate mark-making into his work through drilling and engraving. In Untitled (2011), Hinkley used this technique to turn a ping-pong ball into a delicately sculpted sphere resembling a piece of coral that has been scoured by sea and sand and bleached white by the sun.

For Hinkley, the method of production is equally as important as the resulting artwork. His drawings are unplanned, the forms appearing organically; one line following another until a pattern emerges. While using a drill to create his painstakingly delicate pieces, Hinkley would use a piece of Blu Tack to remove dust and became fascinated by the shapes that remained in the pliable substance. The artist began manufacturing casts, making marks in plaster blocks which he would then fill with polymer clay or a silicon substance. On pulling the forms away from the casts, intricate patterns and minuscule details became visible, as can be seen in the embossed purple polymer clay of Untitled (2011).

Since graduating from Queensland College of the Arts, Brisbane in 2000, Hinkley’s work has been included in several significant solo and group exhibitions, among them ‘Melbourne Now’, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2013–14); ‘Chinatown, The Sequel’, ltd, Los Angeles (2012); ‘New Psychedelia’, UQ Art Museum, University of Queensland, Brisbane (2011); ‘Freehand – Recent Australian Drawing’, Heide Museum of Art, Melbourne (2010); and ‘Matt Hinkley’, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art @Mirka at Tolarno, Melbourne (2007). Hinkley’s work is held in several public collections both in Australia and internationally.
The artist works across the mediums of sculpture and drawing to create subtly intricate and meticulous works composed from a range of materials including newspapers, obsolete electronic equipment, aluminium tubing, ping-pong balls, silicon and polymer clay. Hinkley’s working methods are meticulous and time-consuming, working with his hands on a small scale. The intimate size and tangible fashion of his practice allow the viewer to place themselves in the body of the artist, to imagine crafting their own tactile creations. Hinkley’s DIY production process reveals the imprecision of the human hand; minute errors and irregularities in pattern celebrate the authenticity of the hand in an age of digital reproduction.

Initially focusing on more traditional two-dimensional drawings with a predilection for optical illusion and interventions on pieces of found paper, Hinkley progressed to drawing on found objects but found difficulty getting ink to adhere to non-porous plastic surfaces. This led to an exploration of other tools and methods that would allow him to draw on objects and incorporate mark-making into his work through drilling and engraving. In Untitled (2011), Hinkley used this technique to turn a ping-pong ball into a delicately sculpted sphere resembling a piece of coral that has been scoured by sea and sand and bleached white by the sun.

For Hinkley, the method of production is equally as important as the resulting artwork. His drawings are unplanned, the forms appearing organically; one line following another until a pattern emerges. While using a drill to create his painstakingly delicate pieces, Hinkley would use a piece of Blu Tack to remove dust and became fascinated by the shapes that remained in the pliable substance. The artist began manufacturing casts, making marks in plaster blocks which he would then fill with polymer clay or a silicon substance. On pulling the forms away from the casts, intricate patterns and minuscule details became visible, as can be seen in the embossed purple polymer clay of Untitled (2011).

Since graduating from Queensland College of the Arts, Brisbane in 2000, Hinkley’s work has been included in several significant solo and group exhibitions, among them ‘Melbourne Now’, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2013–14); ‘Chinatown, The Sequel’, ltd, Los Angeles (2012); ‘New Psychedelia’, UQ Art Museum, University of Queensland, Brisbane (2011); ‘Freehand – Recent Australian Drawing’, Heide Museum of Art, Melbourne (2010); and ‘Matt Hinkley’, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art @Mirka at Tolarno, Melbourne (2007). Hinkley’s work is held in several public collections both in Australia and internationally.