Australian painter and musician Andrew Hagar was born in Western Sydney. Drawing was part of his childhood, encouraged by a gift of pastels from his grandmother. His creative life has moved between music and painting, with a return to painting in the early 2000s. His work has also been presented in the Glover Prize, including The Black Line.

Hagar allows an image to develop through the act of painting rather than a fully prescribed composition. Figures emerge through physical gestures and changes of direction, leaving room for uncertainty. The resulting paintings suggest character and emotional states without settling into a single narrative.

Scimitar and self (Medea Canus Lupus) and The Cyclops Is My Valet – The Matador My Friend bring mythic titles into conversation with Hagar’s instinctive approach to the figure.