Matthew Clarke
Matthew Clarke
Self portrait: Lost in Melbourne 2021
reduction linocut; edition 2/16
Courtesy of the artist and Mossenson Galleries, Perth
Artist statement:
Self portrait: Lost in Melbourne is about me. I find Melbourne’s size, colours, and proportions both exciting and overwhelming. As an artist with a mild intellectual disability and mental illness, I am proud to show that having a disability is not a barrier for creating linocuts that I like, and I hope others enjoy.
To make this work, I cut out the lino and then partnered with my friend and mentor Glenn Morgan to print the work. Glenn himself has been a common theme in a long running series of prints and paintings about being lost in Melbourne. Glenn leads trips for local artists to see galleries and bars in inner Melbourne, and one of these trips was my inspiration for this linocut.