Born in Britain, Matthew Browne moved to New Zealand in 1991. Browne is an artist working within the traditions of painting and sculpture.

He studied at Camberwell College of Arts in London, gaining a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Painting in 1982. Further studies in New Zealand at Elam led to a Master of Fine Arts (Honours) in 2000.

Browne has exhibited his work widely throughout New Zealand and the UK. His work is represented in private collections in New Zealand and internationally. Public collections include the Parliamentary Collection, Wellington, The Royal Overseas League, London and The James Wallace Charitable Arts Trust, Auckland.

In 2016, at The 25th Wallace Art Awards, he was First Runner Up with Sophistes. In 2005 he was the joint winner of the People's Choice Award and in 2009 he was awarded Merit for his painting Wonder at the New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Awards. He has consecutively been selected as a finalist in the annual Wallace Art Awards since 2000.

Browne says “I see my painting and sculpture as a way to encourage and make visible those metaphorical images and sensations that normally reside deep in the unconscious". I like to believe that I am embracing the Rudolf Arnheim statement that “Truly productive thinking takes place in the realms of imagery”. I also see my position as one aligned with Surrealist thinking and the poet, Guillaume Apollinaire, who defined this as "Pure psychic Automatism"... and... "the true process of thought".