Ross Matteson
Ross is an artist with over 25 years of professional experience in a wide spectrum of media. His sculpture, often featuring wildlife subject matter, is currently found in 16 countries and has been displayed in numerous museum exhibits. Since graduating from Evergreen State College in 1980, Ross has participated in over 150 different group and solo shows. A lifelong falconer and son of a bush pilot biologist, he has focused his form and behavior representational work on subjects that he is very familiar with.
My sculpture often interprets a bird or other graceful subject in two ways; as a specific life form and as a metaphor. My support forms or "environmental context" for the focal points are important because they help bring the metaphors to light.
I am relentless in carving, forging or sculpting my materials to bring motion and life to my media. I engage in a high level of craftsmanship and work hard to express what I feel is the originality and spiritual essence of my subject or concept. I have pushed and continue to push my materials. I test the bending point, the breaking point, the melting point, the shining point and the roughing point of every bronze, stone or other material that I work with. I test the reflectivity and light absorption of these surfaces in different kinds of light. I then apply my growing knowledge of materials and tools to reveal specific ideas, behaviors, poses, silhouettes, relevant support forms and other context, as I feel can be best described by that media.
A reoccurring theme in my work is the sense of motion and life that can be brought to an inanimate material. Another theme I explore is a subject's relationship to natural or "human" environments. My support forms sometimes mirror the primary subject, rhythmically making reference to shapes drawn from within the anatomy of the subject. This interconnectedness is a heartfelt subject for me, since environmental issues are dear to my heart and experience.
My sense of proportion has been developed with a passion for direct and disciplined observations. Experiences that I draw on include hunting with trained birds of prey. Even though the visual language of my art often draws from the wilderness and indigenous cultures of the Northwest, my themes are more broadly inspired by personal experiences throughout the world, contemporary social and political events and environmental trends. Elements of ancient Egyptian and Asian art also influence my work. Contrasting textures are a large part of my compositional pallet. Color is often a secondary consideration. I work in both subtractive and additive sculpting processes, usually for a final result in bronze or stone. My processes include ceramic shell investment for lost wax casting, sand investment casting, forging, fabrication, welding, tooling, polishing, plastering and carving.
My intimate familiarity with birds along with my optimism and care about humanity, provide a plethora of related visual and tactile ideas to address concepts as diverse as: Spontaneity and discipline; Poise under hardship; Reconciliation; Calm strength; Interdependency and invaluableness; Motion, grace and resistance; The past, present and future; The relationship between nature and humanity; The relationship between a living subject and its environment; War, power, control and balance; Life and death; spiritual substance.
Ross is an artist with over 25 years of professional experience in a wide spectrum of media. His sculpture, often featuring wildlife subject matter, is currently found in 16 countries and has been displayed in numerous museum exhibits. Since graduating from Evergreen State College in 1980, Ross has participated in over 150 different group and solo shows. A lifelong falconer and son of a bush pilot biologist, he has focused his form and behavior representational work on subjects that he is very familiar with.
My sculpture often interprets a bird or other graceful subject in two ways; as a specific life form and as a metaphor. My support forms or "environmental context" for the focal points are important because they help bring the metaphors to light.
I am relentless in carving, forging or sculpting my materials to bring motion and life to my media. I engage in a high level of craftsmanship and work hard to express what I feel is the originality and spiritual essence of my subject or concept. I have pushed and continue to push my materials. I test the bending point, the breaking point, the melting point, the shining point and the roughing point of every bronze, stone or other material that I work with. I test the reflectivity and light absorption of these surfaces in different kinds of light. I then apply my growing knowledge of materials and tools to reveal specific ideas, behaviors, poses, silhouettes, relevant support forms and other context, as I feel can be best described by that media.
A reoccurring theme in my work is the sense of motion and life that can be brought to an inanimate material. Another theme I explore is a subject's relationship to natural or "human" environments. My support forms sometimes mirror the primary subject, rhythmically making reference to shapes drawn from within the anatomy of the subject. This interconnectedness is a heartfelt subject for me, since environmental issues are dear to my heart and experience.
My sense of proportion has been developed with a passion for direct and disciplined observations. Experiences that I draw on include hunting with trained birds of prey. Even though the visual language of my art often draws from the wilderness and indigenous cultures of the Northwest, my themes are more broadly inspired by personal experiences throughout the world, contemporary social and political events and environmental trends. Elements of ancient Egyptian and Asian art also influence my work. Contrasting textures are a large part of my compositional pallet. Color is often a secondary consideration. I work in both subtractive and additive sculpting processes, usually for a final result in bronze or stone. My processes include ceramic shell investment for lost wax casting, sand investment casting, forging, fabrication, welding, tooling, polishing, plastering and carving.
My intimate familiarity with birds along with my optimism and care about humanity, provide a plethora of related visual and tactile ideas to address concepts as diverse as: Spontaneity and discipline; Poise under hardship; Reconciliation; Calm strength; Interdependency and invaluableness; Motion, grace and resistance; The past, present and future; The relationship between nature and humanity; The relationship between a living subject and its environment; War, power, control and balance; Life and death; spiritual substance.
