Matt Arbuckle (b.1987, Auckland, NZ) splits his time living and working as a practicing artist between Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, New Zealand and Narrm, Melbourne, Australia. He graduated from Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2009, and is represented by Two Rooms, Auckland and Daine Singer, Melbourne.
Arbuckle’s practice is a process-driven exploration of place and episodic memory, representing landscapes that are conceptualised through their very making. Through an experimental practice that favours process over outcome, Arbuckle gives form to site and story using surfaces, materials, structures and raw elements found within his immediate environment. Drawing on traditional Japanese shibori techniques, Arbuckle creates abstract compositions by wrapping, twisting, folding and draping fabric over found surfaces and structures. His paintings capture depth, lines, colour and movement to reveal the artistic process and evoke abstract elements and stories of place.
Arbuckle’s work is held in the Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, New Zealand, Driving Creek Potteries collection, New Zealand, Art House Trust, New Zealand, Arthur Roe Collection, Australia, Whitehorse City Council, Melbourne, Australia, The Deloitte Centre, Auckland . In 2017, he was the recipient of the James Wallace Art fellowship to Vermont Studio Centre, USA.