ARTIST STATEMENT
I make collages from photographs I take and images I find, bringing together things that don't necessarily belong together. I cut, tear and recombine images digitally, building and rearranging layers, sometimes painting over the printed works.
My ideas often begin with a conversation, an observation or a feeling. I don't always know what I'm looking for when I start. Making college helps me make sense of the mess of the world around me and the emotions within me. Sometimes I'm trying to find harmony in it all; other times, the work is my own small rebellion against prejudice, inequality and the way things are. Often, it's the making that helps me see or feel something differently.
ARTISTI BIO
Matthew Kenneth Hendricks (b. 1994, Cape Town, South Africa) is a self-taught collage artist whose work rebels against expectations of who he ought to be, where he belongs, and how things should be. Working across photography, digital collage and painting, Hendricks cuts, tears and recombines photographs and found imagery to make sense of the mess of the world around him, the emotions within him, and what it means to be born free in post-apartheid South Africa, yet never quite feel free.
Hendricks holds a PhD in Management Studies from the University of Cape Town, a research background that informs his approach to art. He has also completed workshops in artistic practice, curation and publishing with Kolaj Institute. His work has been exhibited at the New Orleans Photo Alliance during Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2026 and at the New Orleans Jazz Museum as part of The River Bends and So Must We. He has also exhibited at the SA Sendinggestig Museum and Cape Town Central Library through the City of Cape Town’s Emerging Artists Programme, and was selected for Life is a Dream at La Motte Ateljee in Franschhoek, Cape Town (2026–27).