Spotlight Artist: Matt Lawrence

Matt Lawrence graduated in Fine Art BA (Hons) at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Dundee. Lawrence was born in England and soon travelled north where he spent his adolescent years in Glasgow. 

The majority of Matt’s work functions on psychological borderlands of figuration, landscape and abstraction. He uses techniques similar to that of the surrealists, such as automatism, in an attempt to surface some of the raw emotions and imagery of his subconscious.  Sexual desires and elements of the natural environment are the fundamental grounds of matt’s inspiration; intriguing shapes and forms found in dark shadows of forests or in broad daylight of moody beaches, curvaceous erotic lines of the female figure and the chemical reaction in the mind after orgasm.  Using his primary medium of oil paint he aims to portray these raw, primal emotions with ambiguity, using a selected colour pallet and abstracting obvious lines that over distinguish the subject of the image.  

Forest At Night

To get to know Matt a bit better, we asked him some questions:

Spending part of your life in Scotland, do you notice a difference in the art worlds between England and Scotland?   

I’ve found that in Glasgow and Dundee there is a growing interest in installation work and printmaking, and less interest in painting. That’s the impression I felt as I visited exhibition after exhibition and degree shows. As a painter myself I knew I would have a better shot down here in London at the heart of the art world, where I see the continuous support of painters.

What can we expect of the group show ‘Mind Wandering Magic’, where you are part of?

Your minds inner eye to be spoiled with explosions of colour and hidden images found open for interpretation.  

The flyer for the show mentions the ethereal, dreamscapes and otherworldliness. What do these concepts mean to you?

Places which we escape to in our dreams and subconscious and being lost in a single emotion of the moment. There is much we still don’t understand about the depths of our minds and I think it is very important that as creative beings, we allow ourselves to slip into subconscious states of mind, through dreams, reverie, hallucinations, meditation, trance and spirituality; broadening your imaginations horizons and discovering hidden emotions and thoughts.

Moonlit Beach

What’s your favourite YouTube link?

Anything to do with the bottom of the ocean and undiscovered creatures, and who doesn’t love David Attenborough’s documentaries?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ3L9dTl-us

I know it’s not YouTube but I love David Gallo’s short clip on life in the deep oceans on Ted.com

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/david_gallo_on_life_in_the_deep_oceans.html

Figure 7

What’s your favourite London hangout?

I haven’t been in London for long so I’m still enjoying cycling around finding new places, I enjoy finding an old pub by the river or canal, or finding a scenic spot in the woods, I like Richmond Park for that. 

And finally, do you have an interesting fact for us?

We know more about the surface of the moon than the bottom of our deepest oceans.

 Matt GJ Lawrence

@mattgjlawrence