Wayne Matthews

Wayne Matthews (b. 1982) is a multidisciplinary artist currently living and working in Gqeberha, South Africa. He completed his studies at Nelson Mandela University in 2006 and primarily works in collage, drawing, and assemblage. His recent works incorporate a range of materials such as graphite, dust, foodstuffs, torn and pitted paper, palindromes, and phonemes—fragments of word, object, and image.

The range of materials are freely integrated into abstract, semi-figurative, and figurative form, using metaphorical and symbolic language. Wayne's work draws from both contemporary visual culture and literature, as well as cosmogonic myth, presenting an emergent iconography that embraces shifting styles and materials as part of the subject matter. His work explores the intimate and generative interplay of meaning in a context without fixed interpretations.

In 2019, Wayne was awarded a fellowship from the Ampersand Foundation in New York, and in 2007, he received the ABSA L'Atelier Merit Award. Over the years, he has lectured in Drawing, Art Theory, and Painting, and has also worked as a curator, gallery manager, and director. He is one of the founding members of the Labyrinth Project, an initiative that seeks to explore alternatives to traditional curatorial practices through interdisciplinary collaboration and experimentation.

Wayne has participated in numerous group exhibitions, both locally and internationally, and his work can be found in private and public collections worldwide.