Meg Gallagher
Drawing from years of experience in the fashion industry, Sydney-based Meg Gallagher creates earthy, layered and organic patterns in her abstract paintings.
Words: Hande Renshaw | Photography: Si Kirk
Photo: Si Kirk
Vibe by Meg Gallagher. Photo: Si Kirk
Sydney-based abstract artist Meg Gallagher started her creative career working in fashion, designing for local Australian designers such as Camilla and Marc, Insight and Ksubi.
Meg’s days were filled specialising in denim design, pushing the material to its limits, ‘I became fascinated in the complicated textile process, which involved creating a denim wash in the perfect colour,’ she says.
It was at this time that Meg found some scrap pieces of denim in her studio — ‘I started painting them and slowly became obsessed, painting in small windows of time I had… I was struggling to keep my mind healthy and so painting was my form of therapy.’
Today, the artist applies denim as a foundation for her abstract artwork.
When crafting her layered paintings, Meg begins with gathering the perfect base fabrics; off-cuts of denim are sourced from factories so that fabric that would normally be disposed and sent to landfill are given a new lease of life and repurposed.
‘I spend days manipulating the denim — I bleach it, dye it, wash it, paint it, and then wash it again. It’s a calm cycle of chaos.’
Once the base piece of denim is manipulated to where it needs to be, Meg then paints a figure composition overtop, sometimes covering the most beautiful parts of the denim with thick layers of heavy acrylic.
‘As much as I love organic and messy textures, I always need to cover up parts with solid blocks of colour to give the piece a sense of balance.’
‘Colour is everything to me – I would say pairing the right colours together is one of my biggest strengths, it’s where I feel confident to trust my instructs and keep mixing until it feels exactly right,’ says Meg Gallagher. Photo: Si Kirk
Mood by Meg Gallagher. Photo: Si Kirk
“A lot of what I do today draws upon my experience in the fashion industry — I don’t think I’d have same the discipline and sense of direction I have now if I’d started painting any earlier.”
‘For the past few years I’ve lived in a mid-century home nestled into a bushland reserve so its undeniable that I was influenced by my surroundings.’ Photo: Si Kirk
Move by Meg Gallagher. Photo: Si Kirk
Drawing inspiration from nature and the human form, we find soft curves and organic shapes reminiscent of landscapes or the female form in Meg’s abstract work. ‘I love how the curves of bodies mimic the curves of mountains, rocks and water,’ she says.
For the past few years, Meg has lived in a mid-century home nestled in a bushland reserve. Undeniably, her surroundings have made a big impact on her work — shapes and colours mimic the landscape outside her windows.
‘Colour is everything to me — I rarely use a pre-made colour straight out of the tube. I’m always mixing colours to create the perfect hue – orange can’t just be orange it has to be the perfect tone of burnt orange with brown undertones.’
The artist has recently made painting her full-time focus and discovered a new-found energy driving her work, making her latest body of work, aptly titled, New Energy, a significant collection.
‘The collection was inspired by my naive nature when I first started painting — I consciously took a step back and took inspiration from some of my earlier pieces where I was so uninhibited and brought those aspects into my new distinctive style – it’s the old me, with a new energy.’
