Rob McHaffie

Rob McHaffie’s painting, drawing and ceramic portraiture of characters, both real and imagined, engages with themes of personal healing, family, human relationships and the foibles of contemporary life. Never without a pen and sketchbook in hand, Rob’s work is based on close observation of the world around him but is never judgemental. Instead, he presents us back to ourselves with a sense of warmth and a wry humour. In 2024 Rob was the subject of a major solo exhibition, ‘We Are Family’ at Bendigo Art Gallery. Widely collected, Rob’s work is held in the collections including the National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales and Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art. Rob is represented by Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney.

GETTING TO KNOW ROB MCHAFFIE

FAVOURITE HISTORIC ARTIST: I love Bonnard, Tarsila do Amaral, Gertrude Abercrombie, Martin Wong and really, too many to mention.

FAVOURITE ART MUSEUM: I loved spending time in the Prado in Madrid and getting up close to Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights and all the Goya works. Some astonishing master paintings there. Goya's Cat's fighting is also a memorable work.

LIFE-CHANGING CAREER MOMENT: I would say spending 4 months in Malaysia in 2011 and meeting my wife Nartchanok during that period. I sat amongst lush Malaysian fauna and felt it a total escape from Melbourne life. My work became brighter and so much foliage and life crept in. I made a wonderful friend in painter Noor Mahnun Mohamed, who generously took me from place to place to find vegetarian eateries and explore the art and culture of KL, Penang and Singapore.

STUDIO SOUNDTRACK: A real mix, but I love Deeep Space, a radio show on PBS on Monday morning, hosted by Lloyd Briggs. A very eclectic selection of global rhythms. My small record collection is mostly soul and funk to balance out all the whiney folk that gets played around Castlemaine ...

PETS: My son has an axolotl named Oreo and we just adopted a Corgi called Miffy who is very stubborn but fun loving.

FAVOURITE CITY: I had the time of my life in Madrid. I'm not a drinker, and I went there on my own for a week, drifting between bars and museums. I also love Antwerp for its style and architecture and its amazing collection of James Ensor paintings.

IF I WASN’T AN ARTIST…: I’d perhaps be a Chinese doctor or naturopath as I'm very interested in natural health and the mind, body, spirit, connection.

FAVOURITE COLOR: The whole spectrum, but I seem to wear a lot of blue and green.