Humbly Heroic

Medalta International Artists in Residence Solo Exhibitions are on now at the Yuill Family Gallery in Medicine Hat.

The artwork in "Humbly Heroic", an exhibition by AUArts Alum Matthew O'Reilly, MFA '20, Craft Media, was created during a 2021-2022 year long Medalta International Artist Residency.

Artist Statement

Working between ceramics and sculpture, my studio practice uses the sculpted figure as a launching pad for conversation about the human condition. I am particularly concerned with asking questions about our collective values through the framework of monuments and public statuary. I employ the grotesque in my armoury of satire in order to rupture the boundaries of what we ‘know’. I do this by dissecting the body into distorted fragments that come back together to solicit curiosity and repulsion. I aim to make reflexive work that pushes, pulls, and complicates dialogues around identity. Ceramics, metal working, readymades, paint and plaster processes are used as sites for intuitive investigation of the body.