Born in Sydney, Australian artist Linton Meagher puts his two degrees in art and medicine to remarkable use in his artworks which are known for their unusual physical content - his work is formed from empty pill capsules or scalpel blades.
Meagher places each pill or blade individually like a tessarae in a mosaic and then applies a resin. When taken out of their ordinary context the pills or blades, usually considered clinical and even menacing, can be transformed to create an evocative and beautiful image. When hung and lit the finished artworks transcend their ingredients, but close inspection reveals the intriguing materials from which they are composed.
Having studied at Sydney hospital to be a doctor, Meagher is in the unique position of being able to channel his insights into the world of medicine into his art. Inevitably, one cannot help but consider the increasing role that prescription drugs play in people’s lives, especially in a provocative figurative scene formed of curvilinear lines of pills.
Recently Meagher has created new departures in his work by employing a range of other mass produced items in multiple form, including watch faces, golden bullets and dollar bills. Meagher always creates a memorable juxtaposition between media and form; golden bullets may be shaped into a gun or a flower, or scapel blades into a graceful female nude.
Meagher studied at the Julian Ashton School of Art in Sydney and received his Bachelor of Fines Arts at the University of Sydney in 1996. He has had several successful solo and group exhibitions since 2005 in both Australia and Hong Kong. His work is in many private collections internationally and corporate commissions include pieces for Blackmores and the World Health Orgainsation.
