AGES Art Prize 

They say artists are born and not made; Matthew Gillett was forged from the fires of Hell, although city records indicate twas 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 to often stunningly devastating effects.