Michael Mathews

Since 2023 my main art practice has been mixed media collage. Previously my creative efforts were a more abstract expressionist approach which turned out to be an interesting deviation but ultimately a misfire. After making gesture after gesture and mess after mess I decided to change direction. The newer focus on cutting and pasting has been much more fulfilling. It has allowed me to easily explore geometric abstraction, concrete ideas of creative play and deeper feelings of nostalgia, both within me and the traditionalist modern world.

With the newer series of works I’ve developed ways of working within simple geometric frameworks that have allowed more experimentation of the materials and formal elements. This seems to give the surfaces & compositions more visual & tactile depth. One objective is to temper the anxiety of decision making by utilizing simple parameters which makes the process more meditative.

The building block & minimalist motifs for me isn’t just about sentimentality for childhood spirit & 20th century modernist forms, its a structure that allows me to explore interior spaces & sensations of what the human condition feels like while expressing a “pre” & “post” ego state. A metaphor ...

1997 - 2002 - Bachelor of Fine Arts - Minneapolis College of Art & Design