Rehgan De Mather: Conversations in Colour, Chaos & Collage

Written by Anna Itkonen

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For Rehgan De Mather, the canvas is a conversation; sometimes loud, sometimes quiet, but always evolving. “The shortest answer would be life,” he says when asked what his art is about. “I have always viewed life through art, it’s how I make sense of the world. Painting allows me to pull everything apart, decipher it and put it back together; both physically and metaphorically.”

A Melbourne-based visual artist, De Mather’s practice is rooted in a kind of creative recycling. “I reuse and recycle previous works and canvas, cutting them up and casting them amongst new landscapes,” he says. “I call them ‘contemporary leftovers’; moments in time, fragments of stories, stitched together across time and space.”

Since graduating with a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Monash University, De Mather has had 27 solo exhibitions and over 30 group shows. His work appears in collections across Australia, the UK, Singapore, the US, and Ireland. His accolades are many: he was a finalist in the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, the Doug Moran Portrait Prize, and the Lester Prize.

But it’s the long, slow rhythm of the studio that keeps him grounded. “I’ve been doing this for nearly 30 years now,” he reflects. “Once upon a time, I would exhibit three times a year and create dozens, if not hundreds, of works. Now, I exhibit maybe once a year, maybe once every two years. It’s more about depth than volume. I want to be certain the work is resolved, connected, and honest.”

This shift has come with experience and a deeper trust in the process. “In the past, I would pursue every idea. Now I’m more selective, even a little ruthless,” he says. “Sometimes reflection can be just as productive as action.”

De Mather’s process is as layered as the canvases themselves. He often works with recycled materials, found paper, old canvases; pieces that linger in the studio until the right moment. “Some elements I’ll hold onto for weeks, months, years, not knowing exactly how they’ll be used. Then suddenly, they’re exactly what a piece needs. They become the start of a story, or a response to one.”

His approach is intuitive, but not accidental. “I always say it’s a deliberate accident,” he smiles. “It’s not about control; it’s about guiding or being guided.”

Asked if a work is ever truly finished, he responds, “I don’t think they’re ever complete. I think you just get to a point where you don’t need to keep talking. That story, for now, has been told.”

And some stories come back around. “There was a piece I had hanging in a stairwell. Every time I passed it, I thought, ‘Maybe I could do that differently.’ Eventually, I repainted the whole thing. So yes, if a work stays with me, it’s always in danger of becoming something new.”

De Mather describes his use of composition, colour, and form much like music: layered, rhythmical, and surprising. “Some elements are like the beat or chorus. Others are ambient. I want the viewer to discover new things every time they look.”

“I like bold palettes,” he adds. “And I enjoy contradiction; minimalism versus maximalism, clean lines set against chaos. I am more interested in the marks we leave behind, as opposed to those we try to make, as they represent the thing that happens when we’re not looking, the line that leads us elsewhere, and often, to an unexpected journey.”

Above all, he values surprise. “I’ve never wanted to be that artist with 20 variations of the same canvas. I want to be surprised by the work and for others to be, too.”

Is there something specific he hopes viewers will take away? “Connection,” he says, after a pause. “Not necessarily to me, but to something. I’m not trying to explain my experience. I’m trying to create one.”

As for what’s next, he’s setting up a new studio space and easing into new projects. “There are always ideas brewing. Some fresh canvases. Some old ones I might paint over. Momentum builds. It always does.”

“De Mather’s works are noisy, vulnerable, exuberant and rich in layering and stray meanings.”

– Rodney Forbes

“The colour, humour, and honesty of De Mather’s work is a refreshing antidote to the mundanities of everyday life”

– Briar Holt

“I think it’s very important for an artist to make an effort to relate his thought to what he has done, instead of stubbornly relating his work to what he has thought. Rather than modify the work, modify the gaze.”

– Jean Dubuffet

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