BIOGRAPHY
Born in Australia in 1979, PTM obtained a Bachelor of Applied Arts (craft arts) from UNSW in 2001. Though totally in love with textiles and weaving in particular, he did not immediately commence professional art practice, but instead retrained as a primary school teacher and spent ten years in volunteer teaching in West Africa. Political instability meant significant personal and professional upheaval. PTM consequently turned from teaching to professional art practice in 2019.
Since then, he has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Australia, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Portugal, Spain, and South Korea. His work was recently recognised in prestigious international events, namely the Loewe Craft Prize 2022 and Contextile International contemporary textile art biennale. The Surface Design Association recently awarded PTM in their annual exhibition in Print for his unique and unusual use of materials.
PTM lives and works between Sydney, Australia and Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Good art is a witness to our times, but great art transforms. 2020 marked a departure from earlier narrative mixed media work, and a renewed direct engagement with textiles and their power to connect, inspire and transform. In response to political events, social needs and a coincidental, fortuitous donation, PTM now makes large, bold, playful works almost exclusively out of intense brightly coloured zippers. These innovative, striking works subvert traditional forms related to identity, power and prestige, empowering audiences to reimagine and craft a more radiant future.
