Matthew Hindley

(b 1974, South Africa. Lives and works in Cape Town)

After fires swept through the mountains above Cape Town's city centre in 2015; Hindley felt himself drawn to the scorched landscapes. He began painting them; but soon his focused turned to the subject of fires themselves. At first his interest manifested itself in dry points; which featured fires and explosions; and then to graphic mark-making; finally; it moved to a series of large-scale stylised paintings. Hindley's technique involves building layers to create luminosity; and an impression of images that exist somewhere between photography; graphic images; painting and drawing. For inspiration; he has mostly turned to Goya and Van Gogh. “I am interested in the capacity of the line; or the movement of the line; to carry emotion and vibrate with feeling;” he says.