Gary Solomon

Gary Solomon grew up in a home surrounded by Australian Art. This early exposure to contemporary Australian Art was vital for Gary as it was not till mid-life that a passion for art was reignited.

In 1992 Gary co-ordinated and curated a large scale exhibition in Ballarat and forged some important friendships with other contemporary artists. From that time onwards he commenced painting with a passion. He was mentored and encouraged by fellow artists, who saw a raw talent and huge potential in his early abstract paintings, and he started attending community courses in drawing and painting .

In 1998, after several successful solo and group exhibitions, Gary commenced a Diploma of Visual Arts at Box Hill institute. Here, in a stimulating, creative environment and with excellent tuition Gary's style evolved from abstract to figurative. The figures were both tribal and childlike and highly expressive. Figurative sculptures , constructed from found objects,wood and metal, were also created.

From the very beginning Gary has been an intuitive artist. For him art is a spiritual expression of who he truly is and what he deeply values. He firmly believes that creativity is innate in everyone and has a long history of teaching art to both children and adults. He taught art classes for the unemployed of the western suburbs with Mission Australia until 2006 and since then has been teaching art for people who have experienced mental illness with Arts Access.

Recently Gary completed a diploma of Transpersonal art therapy. A rich vein of creative growth flowed from this personal exploration.