Meet Matt Gillett

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Gillett. They and their team shared their story with us below:

They say artists are born and not made; Matthew Gillett was forged from the fires of Hell, although city records indicate it was from two middle-class office workers on the South Coast. Whatever the truth, this riddle wrapped in a mystery wrapped in a wetsuit sees this adrenaline-charged creative junkie as at ease charging the face of waves around the world as when airborne above a forty-foot table-top on his Motocross bike.

Having first found a demand for his work through surfing buddies, all eager to have his original designs splashed across their boards, Matty was lucky enough to have stumbled across established artist Gabrielle Pool in 2004. Urged to take his creative talent more seriously, Gillett, enthused by Gabrielle’s reassuring presence and the buoyant words from supportive family and friends, has since turned his artistic spark into a white-hot flame. So it is now, under the cloak of darkness, that this contrasting character purges nothing but honesty and raw emotion onto the unsuspecting canvas that lays in wait for his often joyous, at times pained, yet always free and poetic onslaught of vibrant oils. A truly original spirit, “Matty G” lives life as he paints. At times gritty and haphazard, at times elegant and graceful, Matty will employ his own independently crafted techniques and spontaneous aesthetics to create something unexpected and always engaging. This self-taught kid from the coast with a dream is not unlike the first Samurai to pick up a sword sans master and rely on natural instincts to guide his hand and mind too often stunningly devastating effects.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I guess Art as a career wasn’t something that was encouraged from an early age. But the more my career path was forcibly steered away from Art, life had a way of pushing it back to. The signs were over time constant until a one-punch assault while managing a Sydney pub was like the frying pan of life hitting me over the head saying “Do what you are meant to do”. Through my rehabilitation, I understood the power of art for me and the power of art to help others. Knowing the impact for me and others, it was time to pursue my art full time and I haven’t looked back. Life has a funny way of showing you the way if you’re open to it.

My journey as a full-time artist is a pleasure and a pain. My early years with huge amounts of success in the Sydney art scene doing it full-time for nearly ten years. To life changes with changing from being represented to representing myself to creating my own opportunities that align with me. I have works sold all over the world and in Australia. When covid hit and I found myself back on the tools as a full-time carpenter three years on now, juggling being a dad to our little ten months 0ld girl, partner and full-time carpenter means that I spend late nights in the studio. But I feel more creative than ever. Producing what I think are my best works. I just won a huge art prize in Sydney and finishing alot of commissions feels good. My goal is to keep painting my energy and emotions onto raw canvas.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My art, sometimes it’s a series of mistakes until what I see makes sense. Other times it’s very much intentional. My art is juicy thick oils, colour and texture, the expression of energy through faces, depth and distorted form. Each work conveys feeling and energy through the face. What I find most exciting is the growth in my work with every new painting. Getting to where I am today wasn’t easy but show me any creative that says it was. I work hard to get what I want, and even then I sometimes don’t get what I want. If you want it get after it. The biggest lesson is, put yourself out there, and enjoy what you do, not everyone is going to love it and that’s ok. What would I want the world to know about me or my art, that’s a hard question. I suppose that my art is honest and to be liked and unliked both valid emotions, for my art to be discussed. And that I never gave up on expressing through art.

How do you think about happiness?
What do I think about happiness, coming from a background of meditation and being a meditation teacher, I think of it as being present in each moment, weather surfing, skating being a dad or painting or less enjoyable chores or responsibilities like being on the tools, digging a hole, paying bills or doing the dishwasher. No matter the moment doing these duties whether they are small or large, higher or more trivial, should be done with a sincere interest and attention with a spirit of love, presents and joy. With my mantra of “your choice” and I choose happiness. This takes work to be present in life but it is the path to well-being enlightenment and pure happiness.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://matthewgillett.com/about-m/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewgillettartist/