Artist Statement
My work explores the fundamental desires of freedom, love, and growth. There are parallels, between these essential needs and the motivation of the artist to determine action without restraint. Through the creation of my work I become exempt from external control. I become freed and because of this freedom, I love and grow with my work. In this sense, each of my works is ultimately a self-portrait. Whether through the conscious, or through the influence of events, I make aesthetic decisions for each piece based on my own conventions. In this way, the work reflects upon experiences within my life. I spent much of my late childhood in Kansas. There, the wind is constantly blowing. It is a wave of motion that oscillates each blade of grass and each leaf independently. Through the constant variation present in the wind, the grass and leaves create a whole; an ocean of organic material that is continually in rhythm. Like the grass, each blade form within my sculpture is perceived as having motion, while at the same time, they create a whole that is also in motion. Our universe is in a constant state of entropy; ever expanding. Naturally in motion from order to chaos, a loss of information that is slowly coming to a stop, and will reverse back in upon itself, where it will start all over again. Yet organic life is rising to higher and higher levels of order through evolution. Twisted steel spines create a chaotic, organic form, while hard lined, geometric wood, steel, and stone forms create balance through a sense of order. My work evolves from each piece to the next; all playing upon the piece before. I choose to work in an abstract style, in order to reach a broader audience and understanding. While my aesthetic decisions are based on my own biases and life experiences, the viewer is allowed to bring to recollection their own life experiences, thus altering their perception of the work and freeing themselves from my own motivations.
Bio
Matthew Foster was born in Monterey, California in March of 1989. He has lived in many places in the United States spending much of his early adult life in Kansas and Maine. He is currently a student at the University of Maine working towards a B.F.A with a focus in sculpture. He has exhibited work in the Lord Hall Gallery at the University of Maine Campus on several occasions. He has also worked for the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium as an Intern/Artists assistant. In the summer of 2011 he worked directly with Hitoshi Tanaka, a Japanese stone sculptor to create Tanakas’ sculpture Window of the Sea Wind.
My work explores the fundamental desires of freedom, love, and growth. There are parallels, between these essential needs and the motivation of the artist to determine action without restraint. Through the creation of my work I become exempt from external control. I become freed and because of this freedom, I love and grow with my work. In this sense, each of my works is ultimately a self-portrait. Whether through the conscious, or through the influence of events, I make aesthetic decisions for each piece based on my own conventions. In this way, the work reflects upon experiences within my life. I spent much of my late childhood in Kansas. There, the wind is constantly blowing. It is a wave of motion that oscillates each blade of grass and each leaf independently. Through the constant variation present in the wind, the grass and leaves create a whole; an ocean of organic material that is continually in rhythm. Like the grass, each blade form within my sculpture is perceived as having motion, while at the same time, they create a whole that is also in motion. Our universe is in a constant state of entropy; ever expanding. Naturally in motion from order to chaos, a loss of information that is slowly coming to a stop, and will reverse back in upon itself, where it will start all over again. Yet organic life is rising to higher and higher levels of order through evolution. Twisted steel spines create a chaotic, organic form, while hard lined, geometric wood, steel, and stone forms create balance through a sense of order. My work evolves from each piece to the next; all playing upon the piece before. I choose to work in an abstract style, in order to reach a broader audience and understanding. While my aesthetic decisions are based on my own biases and life experiences, the viewer is allowed to bring to recollection their own life experiences, thus altering their perception of the work and freeing themselves from my own motivations.
Bio
Matthew Foster was born in Monterey, California in March of 1989. He has lived in many places in the United States spending much of his early adult life in Kansas and Maine. He is currently a student at the University of Maine working towards a B.F.A with a focus in sculpture. He has exhibited work in the Lord Hall Gallery at the University of Maine Campus on several occasions. He has also worked for the Schoodic International Sculpture Symposium as an Intern/Artists assistant. In the summer of 2011 he worked directly with Hitoshi Tanaka, a Japanese stone sculptor to create Tanakas’ sculpture Window of the Sea Wind.
