Matthew Biorn

I picked up a brush again in 2012 after seventeen years away from painting. A single photograph of my young daughter — barefoot in the red African sand, instinctively kicking off her shoes to dance with elderly Batswana women at a cultural festival — stopped me in my tracks. It was a clear reminder of the life I was meant to be living. I quit my IT career shortly after and have never looked back.

I am an American artist based in Boro, on the edge of the Okavango Delta in Botswana — one of the last truly pristine wilderness ecosystems on Earth. The extraordinary light, ancient landscapes, abundant wildlife, and deep cultural rhythms of this place flow directly into every painting I create.
Having first arrived in Botswana in 1995 as a Peace Corps Volunteer to teach Art and English, I have now lived and worked in the country for over twenty years. I speak fluent Setswana and remain deeply embedded in the local community with my wife, where we co-founded Botho Corps Trust, an NGO that currently supports the education of 78 children in our village.

My work is organized in several ongoing series:

The Africa Series — large-format figurative works exploring ancestral memory, feminine strength, and African identity

Road to Boro — intim...

B.A. in Fine Art and English - St. Olaf College - 1995
M.Sc. in Educational Technology - University of South Dakota - 2007

• July 2023 - "Fifty for Fifty" - a Solo Exhibition of original oil and acrylic paintings at Nhabe Museum in Maun, Botswana.

• July 2018 - "Fine Art by Matthew Biorn" - a Solo Exhibition of original oil and acrylic paintings at Nhabe Museum in Maun, Botswana.

• July 2017 - "Okavango Artists Association - Member Exhibition" - a group exhibition with ten other artists at Nhabe Museum in Maun, Botswana.

• June 2015 - "Thapong Visual Arts Center - Member Exhibition" - a group exhibition at Thapong Visual Arts Center in Gaborone, Botswana.

• October 2014 - "The Big Five" -a Five-person Exhibition at Botswana's National Gallery in the capital Gaborone.