Matthew Best

It has been a nice, quiet summer, giving me plenty of studio time. Enough time to really experiment and follow the work in unexpected directions. I like to find that balance between control and chaos in the studio, enough control that they work is consistent, but enough chaos that it directs itself to some degree.

The first change I noticed was a shift in space. The normally very flat space I use began to be more sculptural.

Untitled, 2011. 12 by 12 inches, acrylic on panel.

Untitled, 2011. 36 by 36 inches. Acrylic on panel.

These paintings led to the next logical step, a maquette: I visited an artist friend, our conversations seldom fail to inspire me, I think she has the best “eye” of anyone I know. Truly insightful, kind but always willing to constructively criticize. She noticed something in my art that I had also noticed slowly creeping in (but had been avoiding), a sense of space that is different from my older work, a more sculptural space. She verbalized what I had already kind of been thinking, why not turn this into a sculpture?

The images above are my first attempts at sculpture since 1993. I’ve avoided it that long I just don’t think in three dimensions.  A maquette or a sketch might be a better way to describe it, or just playing. It might go somewhere, it might not. This one is made out of ripped up drawings. If this works I’ll move to other materials.

Seen above: on the left, the maquette alone. On the right, the maquette seen with two paintings.

Maquette III, three views. torn paper and ink

Untitled, 2011. 30 by 30 inches. acrylic on canvas

A painting influenced by sculptures that were created in reaction to paintings that in turn influenced a sculpture.

Untitled, 2011. 36 by 36 inches. acrylic on canvas.