Merric Brettle

Psychopomp 3 – Surface Tension

July 31 – August 22, 2026  

Psychopomp 3 – Surface Tension presents a new body of work by Melbourne-based artist Merric Brettle, exploring how we experience an increasingly image-saturated world.

Drawing on collected and remade imagery, Brettle’s exhibition reflects an ongoing process of observing, analysing and reinterpreting the visual information that surrounds us. The works move between two interconnected approaches: Pattern Finding, which investigates the images we encounter every day, and Reflection, which considers how these images shape our understanding of ourselves and the world.

Working across formal and conceptual abstraction, Brettle transforms familiar visual motifs into layered compositions that encourage slow looking and personal interpretation. Rather than offering fixed meanings, the works invite viewers to discover their own connections through the interplay of image, material and title.

Psychopomp 3 – Surface Tension considers how meaning is constructed in a contemporary culture where images constantly mediate our experience of reality.  

Merric has maintained a sustained engagement with the arts over the past three decades, with an extensive exhibition history spanning institutional, commercial and independent spaces across Australia and Asia. His work has been presented at venues including Terajima Kashiwa, Omotesando Garo Tokyo, Neu Contemporary Bangkok, Cartel Bangkok, Genkan Gallery Tokyo, The Japanese Consulate Melbourne, Brenda May Sydney, Peloton Sydney, Blindside Melbourne, Deutscher & Hackett Melbourne, Block Projects and NKN Melbourne.

A recipient of the Monbusho (Japanese Government) Research Scholarship, Merric holds multiple degrees, including Master of Visual Art degrees from Tokyo University of the Arts and Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney. His practice has been shaped by an ongoing investigation into cultural exchange, with a particular focus on artistic dialogue across the Asia-Pacific region. Through both curatorial and artistic projects, he has developed significant Japan–Australia exchanges since the early 2000s, followed by Thailand–Australia exchange initiatives throughout the 2010s.