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Kate Matthews

London

Kate Matthews' practice explores the limits of geometric and optical abstraction through the use of colour, repetition, sequence and distortion.

Surfaces are created which fold inward and lie on various angles, occupying and enlivening physical space.  As the viewer moves around the work, the form, shapes and shadows alter, creating a sense of distortion and surprise.

The three-dimensional nature of her paintings aid in obscuring the rules of fixed, consecutive arrangements, generating a sense of unease by creating broken and fragmented shapes whilst in a uniform composition.  An endless battle between systems and disorder, structure and chaos echo throughout her practice.

Focussing on an aesthetic and optical effect, her work transcends the obsession with 'meaning' in contemporary art.  Emphasising the materiality or the 'thingness' of three dimensional structures, she is not only drawing on and combining different disciplines but she is advocating a renewed appreciation of the experience of 'substance' in the experience of art.

The whimsical titles such as, 'I Can't Afford The Luxury of Personal Boundaries', and 'My Apology is From The Heart', contrast the striking precision and sensory impact of the work, and play upon the contemporary viewer’s instinct to search for meanings or significances attached to profound objects.

 

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