Matt Martin is an artist and graphic designer living in Seattle, Wa. He began drawing as kid, and his style continues to be informed by a gamut of west coast and international influences. In 2003, Matt decided to unify his varying creative pursuits under the name 'mixed media research'.
"I've always understood art to be a language, or at least a tool - an essential function of existance and survival," says Matt. "I see it as a language bound only by the limits and skills of those who communicate with it. And as such, for me, it's one that should never be contained or restrained within a certain set of parameters, i.e. 'I am a watercolor landscape painter and will always and forever paint watercolor landscapes'. And that's fine for anyone who's satisified with that. However for me, I've been making art of all kinds for so long, that pushing myself to continually grow more expansive in my interests and skills is as equally important as it is to complete quality work that I can be proud of."
"I have a family. I have kids. I have bills. I've made art specifically to make money to pay those bills and feed those kids. And I'm grateful that I can use my art to take care of these base needs. But therein can lay the challenge: how does one make the right compromises in business or livelihood while remaining true to individual goals and aesthetics? And again, for me that's a question with an endlessly evolving answer. That's the nature of things, and I think that's fine."
"Certainly the art world is a complicated and crowded place these days. In terms of what it means to succeed as an artist, I think the illusion is that we must all lock in to that one specific view point, or style, or approach to working, in order to trancscend one's current status so as to arrive at a place of material weatlth and stability. And while sure, that kind of outcome is great, and we all strive for it in one way or another, I just think that if you're not mindful of these things, it can cheapen the experience."
"For me it's fundamentally about the process, and being there in the moment, and growing, reacting, and evolving within it. At times it can be a very solitary pursuit, but one with a goal of showing others something they've never thought or seen before. It's about doing a million different things at once. It's about doing the same thing a million different ways. Trying new things, regardless if the results ever see the light of day. It's about the alchemy of throwing the disparate together and having the ability to see the sparks, and to turn those into fire."
Matt earned a BFA degree in Painting from Colorado State University in 2002. He continues to create and exhibit work regularly while paying the bills as a commercial graphic designer for a variety of corporate clients.
mixedmediaresearch{at}gmail.com
COMMISSIONS
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