pastel, ink, collage. 14 x 22, 2021. People helping one another.

Vietnam

These pictures describe Americans hyperventilating about everything: race, COVID-19, the economy,  global warming, President Trump, sex.  And what people might do "OFFLINE".



Decline

Mixed media drawings of houses and one picture I have in mine.  Depicts how home design and works of art contributes to our place of residence being a  spiritual sanctuary.  How that feeling figures into enduring the crisis.  
 

 Safe as Houses

Pictures I made while in COVID-19 quarantine.  Collage, text art, drawings

Things We Saved in The Flood

Artist Statement
Matthew Sproul

Twenty mixed media drawings and collages.  My theme is modern art.  Art for art's sake, with some cultural/political content.  I work in this style because of its manifestly rich tradition and in turn its timelessness.

My pictures are essentially about ideas and precision.  The ideas are simple and straightforward: cut paper collage; one or two words; modern architecture.  Therefore, to be effective their execution needs to reflect that simplicity by being precise.

In practice this means clean lines, careful design, and colors that are contrasting and complementary.  I am a modern artist.  I deploy its characteristic forms, expressionism, and large blocks of color to make art that is accessible and in my hope entertaining to all.  

I feel we are in a prime cultural moment for rational design.  Drawn objects based on facts and logic.  I approach this concept in three ways: 1. Abstract collages in colors that glow and pulsate.  2. Word pictures that are either cultural/political or simply celebrate the sound and impact of words.  3. Drawings of buildings that highlight the functionalism, structural expression, and unadorned elegance of modern design.

In all I want my mixed media collages and drawings to give the comfort of the familiar; delight in simplicity; and most of all to be pictures of distinction in an image saturated culture.


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Matthew Sproul