About Draegath

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Awenyddion is a dream poet.

A dream-poet is a pagan ideal, an avatar for the god within the self to be realised through external manipulation and expression. This may sound pretensious, but that is only because the terminology is unfamiliar to most people, particularly those not aquainted with Celtic culture that has its roots more than 2000 years ago. Through my meditation, that is through my painting, I bring out the monsters that are most pressing for the task at hand. The Awen, meaning poetic or mantic insight and -yddion meaning of the masculine gender, has a long history dating back to the at least the period of Giraldus Cambrensis/Gerallt Gymro in the 12th & 13th Centuries. but which probably reflects the existence of a much earlier tradition, as in much of the history of Cymru/Wales.

Biography

Draegath, whose name is Matt Benson-Parry, was born in Subiaco, Western Australia in 1979. He was educated in not a small way by his paternal and maternal grandmothers, who introduced him to both his celtic ancestry and the stories of the indiginous Western Australian people respectively. His own studies later on cemented into place a strong sense of culture that was only reinforced by his travels. After his training in painting by Brigid Farbenbloom, Draegath started exhibiting his works publicly in 2000 which led to his first solo exhibition in 2002. A year and half of travelling in Europe followed which left Draegath dissatisfied with his work upto then and resolved him to study further, which he did at the University of Western Australia, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2006. After completing his degree and with several more exhibitions behind him, he met Peter Davidson, an artist who had as keen an influence on Draegath as any before him. Davidson instructed Draegath in the value of surface texture, which led to a leap forward in the quality and vibrancy of Draegath's work, particularly after he added layers of encaustic to the canvasses.

Draegath lives and works between Fremantle in Western Australia and Kingston in Ontario, with his wife and muse.

Draegath, operating under various psuedonyms such as Matte Dubh, Os Coehlo & Dhoe, has been building up his repetoire of influences such as Peter Davidson, Peter Mudie, Penny Bovell and Stellarc. His work remains heavily influenced by Basquiat, but he also shows signs of Bisley and Shiele in his work. Draegath's work has appeared on album covers, tattoo designs, theatre sets and t-shirts as well as in private showings in the United Kingdom, Canada and Portugal.