Matt WICKER

Farmers Prayer Wheel
Steel, cast iron

My body is a collection of flesh and bone as my mind is a collection of experiences. My work encompasses this thin sliver of possible perceptions, guided by my hopes, dreams, thoughts, memories, and emotions. My art is intended to capture the essence of numinous experiences I have had through-out my life. Whether this feeling is derived from the subliminal comfort of a quiet forest or the sublime roar of modern industry, these wordless impressions of a grandeur beyond myself are the fuel for my work.

Formally, the shapes and textures inspired by nature ( or sometimes directly quoted from nature) are forced into interaction with forms that are derived from the artificial world of industry. Sometimes the relationships between these forms is easy, alluding to a possible happy medium between these two forces; often however, they are uneasy or disquieting, just as the life we face often is. The meanings of my works are not always obvious; this is intended to permit the viewer to use the works much like ink blot tests. These works allow the viewer to read into the forms what they bring to them.

My examinations and observations of life lead me to the creation of these pieces. The work is intended to make the viewer examine it and by extension examine themselves. This is communication, of a kind, of the wordless occurrences which we have all experienced. With each work I move closer and closer, learning more and more, to that clear communication of those events that escape easy language.

My Own Private Birmingham
Steel, cast iron