Merryn Trevethan is an Australian artist currently based in Hong Kong, relocating in February 2021 after 7 years in Singapore. Her abstracted, hyper- saturated artworks are inspired by the constantly changing structure of cities. Through her multi-disciplinary practice she considers the uncertainties of human perception; examining how we see, navigate and record our experiences in public, urban environments.
Merryn holds a Masters of Fine Arts from Monash University, Melbourne (2005). Recent exhibitions include Postmodern Tales at H Queens, Hong Kong; Superhuman Expedition, at Arthub Studios, London, UK; and Pixel Paradise, a collaborative exhibition with Sebastian Mary Tay at Comma Space, Singapore. She has created numerous mural commissions in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia including a site-specific mural for the Australian Theatre for Young People, Sydney, 2022. In Singapore, Merryn created murals for Facebook OpenArts program in 2020 and 2015. She was one of ten artists (and co-curator) of Bus.Stop.Art public art project, commissioned by National Arts Council for Singapore Art Week 2021. In 2018, Merryn was a fellow of the Sam and Adele Golden Art Foundation Residency Program, New York and Red Gate International Artist Residency, Beijing, China in 2009. She is currently a studio resident at HART HAUS Social Studio in Hong Kong.
Merryn has participated in public art festivals in Melbourne and Singapore, where in 2014 she was awarded first prize for DRIVE - Public Art Festival. She has held numerous solo and group exhibitions at institutions, artist-run spaces and commercial galleries in Australia, Singapore, USA, Hong Kong and China. These include Town Hall Gallery, Melbourne; Trocadero Artspace, Melbourne; Wyndham Gallery, VIC; Australian High Commission, Singapore and Yeo Workshop, Singapore.
Curatorial projects include Bus.Stop.Art- a National Arts Council grant awardee and commissioned project for Singapore Art Week 2021; Rules of Engagement- a Public Square Programme, The Substation, Singapore (2019) and This Wild Song x Singapore celebrating International Women’s Day at the Australian High Commission, Singapore (2018).
Inspired by the changing nature and structure of cities, I examine how we see, navigate and record our experiences of urban environments. My practice considers the built environment and how we relate to the architectural while negotiating space in public, urban environments. It acknowledges that our relationship to our surroundings is in a constant state of flux, where we mediate a labyrinthine set of systems in which our daily lives have become enmeshed.
I counterbalance abstracted, architectural forms against hyper-saturated fields of colour in paintings, drawings, objects, and large-scale installation works. Much like the structure of a city where nothing is seen in isolation, my works are often collaged and clustered together, layered to reflect different modes of seeing and experience. I draw colour inspiration from both my local, real world environment, and the collapsed digital space of screens, while also referencing the often overlooked structures and systems that underpin our cities.
My work plays on the uncertainty inherent in any individual’s perceptions. By drawing attention to this, I hope to build a shared sense of empathy that celebrates multiple viewpoints and acknowledges that we all experience the world differently. By mirroring the changing perspectives which shape a constant renegotiation of how we relate to our environment, my work considers the role of memory, and the influence of devices and technology on our perceptions of space, time, and colour in an invitation to relate to and be critical of our surroundings.