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Matt Calvert

Featuring found reflector lens

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Louise Fisher at Work

The Studio

The Artist's Cottage

The Cottage Kitchen

Artist in Residence Opportunities

International residencies have had a major impact on my career development, starting with a six-month residency at the McCulloch Studio at the Cite Internationale des Art, Paris in 1995, followed by periods at Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia in both 1998 and 1999 courtesy of Asialink, and in Sapporo, Japan in 2000 with the assistance of the Contemporary Art Institute of Sapporo. During this period I developed my interest in using recycled materials.

I was a member of the Asialink Arts Advisory Committee between 2010 and 2013, using my personal experience to help select artists for residencies throughout Asia.

In 2015 my studio was registered with the international artist residency program, Resartis, to provide an affordable, peaceful living and working space for up to three artists at a time, for a period of two weeks or more.

More information on the residency, The Pickers’ Hut @ Glaziers Bay, is available here:https://resartis.org/listings/the-pickersea-hut-glaziers-bay/

An information package including more photos can be emailed on request.

Application for Artist in Residence

If you would like to apply, simply email a brief overview of your career history, images of your work and how you think the residency would contribute to your professional and personal development to me at mattcalvert@iinet.net.au There is no requirement to make any work during your stay.

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Your Email Address

Tell me a little about yourself and how you believe this artist's residency with will add to your career as an artist.

LINKS: Provide any links to support your application here ( e.g. sites showcasing your art career to date, including your portfoliio)

MATTS CV

About Matt Calvert

Matt Calvert is a widely collected Australian-based sculptor who works primarily with toughened glass, aluminium and corten steel.

“It is not unusual to find Tasmanian sculptor Matt Calvert scouring highways for splintered shards of shiny plastic. The reflective remains of broken taillights, headlights and indicators are gathered like prized jewels alongside the twisted relics of steel fenders and car door frames. As he collects each dilapidated item, Calvert wonders about the object’s history. Were there fatalities? How were families affected? The memory of his own father, tragically taken in a car accident when the artist was a child, comes to mind during the ritual of collecting and resonates throughout his ensuing artistic practice. As a result, Calvert’s meticulously assembled sculptures often incorporate striking symbols of loss, caution and memory.” – Bryony Rhodes

Matt graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Fine Art (first class honours) in 1993. He was awarded a Samstag Scholarship to Goldsmiths College, University of London, where he completed a Master of Art degree in 1994.

After residencies in Paris, Malaysia and Japan earlier in his career, Matt’s practice now focuses on small and large-scale public and private commissions that feature recycled, toughened glass, sometimes in conjunction with corten steel and aluminium.

Matt sources his glass from waste material, smashes it up in his studio in aptly-named Glaziers Bay in southern Tasmania, and reconfigures it using a cold fusion, flat mould lamination technique into quirky forms of children, an iconic range of farmyard and exotic animals and more recently, tree-like forms. When creating his work he often references illustrations from old picture books, ‘cookie cutter’ figures and likenesses of his son, Eddy.

A recurring theme in Matt’s work revolves around roadside tributes and memorials, referring to the loss of his father in a car accident when he (Matt) was only seven years old and featuring most recently in the work selected for the 2014 McClelland Sculpture Survey, Dieback.

A regular finalist in major Australian sculpture awards over the past 15 years, he won the Montalto Sculpture Prize in 2015 for the work Pointing Girl. His work is held in public and private collections in Australia, Japan, Malaysia and the United States.

Matt was a member of the Asialink Arts Advisory Committee between 2010 and 2013 and in 2015 became a member of the Res Artis International Residency Network with his studio space, The Pickers’ Hut @ Glaziers Bay.

Check Matt’s CV for more detail.

MATTS CV

Public Art Management

I have successfully managed more than 10 public art projects over a 15-year period and take pride in the fact that every project has been delivered on time and within budget. I have experience in consulting and working with various stakeholders in the public art arena, including arts administrators, local councils, collecting institutions, school principals and school communities (at times using students as models), architects and landscape designers.

I work closely and comfortably with engineers, welding firms, electrical/lighting personnel and installation teams to ensure my work is fabricated and presented to the highest standard.

The materials I use – cold-fused recycled toughened glass, and either aluminium or corten steel – work well in a variety of light and weather and age well with minimal maintenance. As the glass is typically grouted and polished, it is safe to touch and therefore suitable for public spaces. I always consider the risks of both entrapment and vandalism when designing works and often their sheer scale (up to 4 metres in height) minimises these risks.

I have a current White Card and all the necessary insurances in place, alongside experience in producing maintenance manuals.

My clients include the Tasmanian and Australian Capital Territory Governments, Melton City Council, Bendigo Regional Gallery, Eastlink, Knox City Council and Wyndham City Council in Victoria, and Clarence City Council and Glenorchy City Council in Tasmania. A full list of public art commissions appear in my CV. Referees can be provided on request.

Kangaroo Bay- Clarence City council Public Art Work

Boy-Looking-Up, Eastlink-Victoria

Boy,Werribee-Victoria

Garnish, Western-BACE-Melton-Victoria

Peter Stared Into the Vast Unknown, Bendigo Regional-Gallery

Private Sales & Commissions

My work, both large-scale and small-scale sculptures as well as two-dimensional wall panels, appears in many private homes and gardens around Australia. It is sometimes purchased after it has been seen on show in an art prize, or it can be new work made in close consultation with the client.

I can assist with installing or hanging your work, advise you how to care for it and provide a maintenance service as and when required.

Check the ‘available work’ section on the Portfolio page to see which works are available for purchase, or feel free to contact me to discuss a new commission.

I am always happy to welcome visitors to my studio, a 45-minute drive south of Hobart, by arrangement.