Stephen Garrett is a multidisciplinary video, sculptor and installation artist. He first studied Psychology and Social Work which he worked in for 10 years before returning to The University of Newcastle to study Fine Art where he graduated in 2001 winning both the Dean’s Medal and the University Medal. Straight after graduation, Garrett won the prestigious Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship where he took the opportunity to live and work in Vietnam and China for 1 year, holding his first solo exhibition titled, ‘This That Here There’, at the Centre for Contemporary Art Hanoi.
Garrett practices as an artist and writer having held over 12 solo exhibitions and his work has been curated into numerous group exhibitions; his writing has been published in book chapters, journals and exhibition catalogues.
A key aspect of Garrett’s multidisciplinary oeuvre is the time he spends wandering around the Australian bush and outback researching and making his highly detailed video’s and sculptural installations. His work draws on cultural ideas of Australian colonial history and he places himself into that context by retracing the landscape and uncovering markers of the past.
Demonstrating the significant national recognition he had already acquired at this early point in his career through his academic achievements, Garrett also contributed to his artistic reputation through the numerous grants and awards he has received, such as: the Muriel Hooper Scholarship from the Art Gallery of NSW (2000) The Marten Bequest (2001), Artist In Residence at the Centre for Contemporary Art Hanoi (2001) at the Melbourne Aquarium (2003), Artist in Residence, Newcastle Region Art Gallery (2007), C.R.A.C French Cultural Grant(with Marie Jeanne Hoffner)(2009), Creation and Development Grant from Arts Victoria (2012)
His work is represented in several public collections throughout Australia, as well as private collections in nationally and abroad.
- Writers:
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Contart
- Date written:
- 2014
- Last updated:
- 2014
