"By removing imposed concepts and tight, strangling techniques, simply worked can be more powerful than an elaborately overworked piece. Clarity in construction, intent and image is paramount."

Malcolm Harrison works with fabrics, stitched and constructed pieces. He is best known for major commissions such as the BNZ Tower, Queen Street Auckland, the North Shore City Council building and Parliament House, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.

He places strength in his background. His forebears were involved in early coal-mining in Australia and the West Coast of the South Island. He had a Grandmother who worked as a child in the Lancashire Cotton mills and learned a respect for handwork from both his grandparents and parents.

Malcolm acquired pattern drafting and garment construction skills at night schools and various manufacturers. He was placed in several "Gown" events before concentrating on quilt making.

He was selected for a commission providing a large artwork for the refurbishing of Parliament buildings in Wellington. This work completed in1996, incorporated a combination of Maori flax weaving and European embroidery tradition in retelling stories of New Zealand history. Harrison co-ordinated numerous fabric groups including Maori and Pacific Island artists and seven hundred members of the Embroiderers' Guild.

His own work is in public and private collections in New Zealand and overseas.