Matthew Kenneth Hendricks

Matthew Kenneth Hendricks
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

STATEMENT

I make collages from photographs I take and images I find, bringing together things that don’t necessarily belong together. I cut, tear, and recombine images digitally, building and rearranging layers, sometimes painting over the printed works.

My ideas often begin with a conversation, an observation, or a feeling. I don’t always know what I’m looking for when I start. Making college helps me make sense of the mess of the world around me and the emotions within me. Sometimes I’m trying to find harmony in it all; other times, the work is my own small rebellion against prejudice, inequality, and the way things are. Often, it’s the making that helps me see or feel something differently.

BIO

Matthew Kenneth Hendricks is a self-taught collage artist whose work rebels against expectations of who he ought to be, where he belongs, and how things should be. Working across photography, digital collage, and painting, Hendricks cuts, tears, and recombines photographs and found imagery to make sense of the mess of the world around him, the emotions within him, and what it means to be born free in post-apartheid South Africa, yet never quite feel free.

Hendricks holds a PhD in management studies from the University of Cape Town, a research background that informs his approach to art. He has also completed workshops in artistic practice, curation, and publishing with Kolaj Institute. His work has been exhibited at the New Orleans Photo Alliance during Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2026 and at the New Orleans Jazz Museum as part of “The River Bends and So Must We.” He has also exhibited at the SA Sendinggestig Museum and Cape Town Central Library through the City of Cape Town’s Emerging Artists Programme, and was selected for “Life is a Dream” at La Motte Ateljee in Franschhoek, Cape Town (2026-27).

ARTIST CONTACT

EMAIL | WEBSITE

IMAGES