Matilda Grace Hillam, Silver StripesS, 2025. Image courtesy of Sakina Indrasumunar.JPG
Matilda Hillam
Gallery 2
Opening Thursday 19 February, 2026, 6-8pm
Friday 20 February - Sunday 15 March 2026
Silver Stripes is a celebration of survival against the odds.
Surviving chronic physical and mental illness, and a world that gives no quarter, Matilda never thought she would make it this far. From here, everything is a bonus.
Proud of her grey hair, she’s earned her stripes.
Passionate about elevating the outcast, overlooked and undervalued in society through advocacy and inclusion, Matilda approaches materials in the same way. A bowerbird constantly searching for anything that sparkles, the perfect piece of plastic, a broken children’s toy. From countryside opportunity shops to tip yards and the foot path, through Matilda’s eyes treasures are reclaimed and reframed.
With an irreverence for the restrictive, imposed structures of the squared canvas, Matilda’s practice is multidisciplinary; confessional, imperfect, messy, undeniably human, hard to define. Placed at the intersection of protest and celebration, the personal is political. For Matilda, everything she does is art. With a silly outfit and her tongue placed firmly against her cheek, Matilda embraces life, kitsch and her inner child.
About the Artist
Matilda Grace Hillam is a multidisciplinary artist from Wiradjuri Country, Wagga Wagga, now based on Ngunnawal land (Canberra). Her bold, playful work explores lived experience with psychosocial disability and chronic illness. An advocate for access and inclusion in the arts, she exhibits widely and engages in diverse creative and community roles.