Were it not for a certain south-west Victorian wallaby, Matthew Clarke might never have made the first brushstrokes that set him on the path to the finals of Australia's most prestigious art prize.
Clarke said his passion for the animals "grew and grew" after he saw a joey emerge from its mother's pouch to sniff a clothesline outside his Warrnambool home.
"I perceived them to have strong personalities and individual characteristics," he said.
But Clarke recently set his favourite subject aside to paint friend and fellow artist Del Kathryn Barton.
The resulting portrait, Del Kathryn Barton is a Good Listener, is one of 52 artworks out of a field of 1,500 to be selected for the 2021 Archibald Prize finals.
'Good to see'
Clarke, who identifies as living with an intellectual disability, says it is thrilling to be a finalist.
"[It's] quite good to see people with disabilities get in," he said.
COVID-19 restrictions mean it is unlikely he will be able to travel to the Art Gallery of NSW for the opening of the Archibald exhibition next week, but Clarke has an upcoming show closer to home.
The Wallabies Gambit Club exhibition will open at the Warrnambool Art Gallery (WAG) in mid-June.
Big picture
The exhibition includes a large mural Clarke painted on the facade of the gallery.
"The mural is about chess and wallabies," he said.
WAG education officer Megan Nicolson said Clarke's sculptural works display his "intuitive knowledge of colour" and that his works were "bold" and "full of energy".
"Chess is a game with strict rules and yet Matthew's artwork is free and really has no rules," Ms Nicholson said.
While Clarke's art may feel limitless, the space it is created in is anything but.
"My studio is in my sister's single garage," he said.
