Michelle Matson     Work | Artist Statement & CV | Return to Artist List
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Artist Statement
Sculpting with paper is (for me) like making a three dimensional drawing.  It is immediate, versatile and can be extremely precise.  I began using paper in my work because of financial necessity, as an undergraduate at the School of Visual Arts I would gather found corrugated cardboard to construct elaborate pieces inspired by architecture.  As my practice evolved I began to favor acid free paper in order to extend the life-span of my sculptures.


The majority of this body of work is comprised of life sized, free-standing figurative sculptures.
I see my artwork as stills from imagined films.  I envision a non-linear script comprised of hypnogogic imagery, daydreaming, jokes and fantasies.  While no subject is off limits, bodily functions, humor, popular entertainment, morbidity, and the spectacle of celebration are themes I often return to.  The paper sculptures are very fragile, they can be destroyed by the elements, they fade,  they expand and shrink with the weather and are easily crushed and torn by handling.  Because of this I began photographing my sculptures and painting their portraits.  The first of these experiments was called the Photobooth Series, where I constructed a series of six busts and corresponding painted backdrops that were installed behind the busts. I then photographed the installation so that a pristine version of the piece can co-exist alongside its decaying original.

Although I use a significant amount of source material while researching and sketching my ideas, I generally use anatomic guides only as a gentle suggestion.  I allow abstractions and distortions to take over once the layout has begun.  If you look closely at the sculptures, the entire under-structure is composed of hundreds of .5- 3” rolls of paper.  These components are intricately glued together, like a magnified, simplified, aesthetically composed cellular structure.  The surface ornamentation of the sculpture is as important as the structural elements. 
I tile the outer layer of my sculptures obsessively with individual fragments of paper, this treatment is intentionally intricate because what I find most interesting about skin, hair and fabrics on a microscopic level is that they are comprised of minute worlds of pattern and repetition.  When I exhibit the sculptures it is generally a site specific installation, each presentation can be very different according to the allotted space.  Occasionally, I exhibit the sculptures displayed in front of painted backdrops, in pairs or in groups.
CV
B. 1981

EDUCATION

2005 BFA SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS



SOLO SHOWS

2005

   “CABIN FEVER”, SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS: WESTSIDE GALLERY, NEW YORK

   UNTITLED, KANTOR/FEUER PROJECT SPACE , NEW YORK

  

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS


2011

   “COLORIFIC! WE MAKE AN ART RAINBOW”, POSTMASTERS, NEW YORK, ORGANIZED BY PAULINA BEBECKA

   “PAPERWORK”, KRAVETS WEHBY GALLERY, NEW YORK, CURATED BY NINA CHANEL ABNEY

   “THE PERFUMED HANDKERCHIEF”, FLUX FACTORY, QUEENS, NY, CURATED BY ALISON WARD


2010

   “WORKS ON PAPER”,  GARFO ART CENTER, SALT LAKE CITY

   “NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE”,  FORMER TOWER RECORDS BUILDING, NEW YORK, CREATED BY NO LONGER EMPTY     


2009

   “DON’T FLEE THE ART MARKET”, POSTMASTERS, NEW YORK, CURATED BY PAULINA BEBECKA

   “EXTRA EXTRA”, CHINA ART OBJECTS, LOS ANGELES


2007

   “CONGREGATION”, 54 CROSBY, NEW YORK


2006

   “SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION”  STUX GALLERY, NEW YORK

     “STUDIO VISIT”  EXIT ART, NEW YORK
In Deep, 2011
Archival paper sculpture, watercolor painting, Plexiglas box, metal chain, rope, embroidery thread
24 x 18 x 20”
In Deep x 3, 2011
Archival paper sculpture, watercolor painting, Plexiglas boxes
36 x 48 x 20”
Dead Head, 2011
Archival paper, enamel paint
30 x 12 x 12”
Murder She Wrote, 2010
Archival paper sculptures
Dimensions variable, each head measures approximately 12 x 18 x 12”
Chatterbox I, 2011
Archival paper, wire, plaster
18 x 10 x 10”
Chatterbox II, 2011
Archival paper, wire, plaster
18 x 10 x 10”
The Shocker, 2011
Archival paper on canvas, oil on canvas
Dimensions variable, each canvas is 9 x 12”
Never Turn Your Back On A Cactus: Part 1 (A Polysyllabic Tribute to Christopher Walken), 2011
Watercolor and oil on canvas
30 x 40”
Guilty Seaman, 2010
Archival paper sculpture, oil painting
Approximately 18 x 24 x 20”
The Babe, 2010
Archival paper sculpture, oil painting
Approximately 18 x 24 x 20”
The Idealist, 2010
Archival paper sculpture, oil painting
Approximately 18 x 24 x 20”
Poodle Boy, 2010
Archival paper sculpture, oil painting
Approximately 18 x 24 x 20”
Snodgrass, 2010
Archival paper sculpture, oil painting
Approximately 18 x 24 x 20”
Death At The Disco, 2010
Archival paper sculpture, oil painting
Approximately 18 x 24 x 20”
Employee of the Month, 2010
Archival paper sculpture
36 x 24 x 20”

*Ideally he would be exhibited behind a functioning business counter, he would assist no one.
The Contortions I, 2011
Archival paper sculpture, prefabricated disco ball
72 x 30 x 30”
The Contortions II, 2011
Archival paper sculpture, plastic hoops
80 x 45 x 30”

*Ideally the hoops would be made of functioning neon tubes, I do not have the funds for this at the present time.
Reading Room, 2010
Archival paper sculptures
Dimensions variable upon installation, each figure is life sized
Rolling Thunder, 2009
Archival paper sculptures
Dimensions variable, figure is approximately 60 x 50 x 30”
Bad Puppy, 2010
Glazed porcelain
1 x 2 x 3”
Edition of 3,000

*Pictured next to Jeff Koons’ Puppy Vase; Puppy Vase is coincidentally also an edition of 3,000