In this Conversation, questions arise about how I come to know my material reality through visual and learned experience. I can ask about extraneous qualities bundled up in an object, or thing and how those can be implemented. This theoretical play is actualized in the creation of both sculptures and 2-dimensional work.
When working flatly with painting and drawing, I develop images that float between abstraction and representation. I confuse space, alter forms, and re-work the image to create a sense of the objects, things, and spaces portrayed. While working sculpturally, I use fabric, foam, resin, plastic, wood, paint, paper-pulp, and other materials that have specific processes, physical traits, and qualities to them. I weigh these elements against each other to develop relationships that confront and confirm what I know about them.
Matthew Russo was born in Worcester, MA. He currently lives and works in Washington, D.C. as a Studio Technician, Educator, and Artist. His work actualizes theoretical research into physical Sculptures, Paintings and Drawings. He uses abstraction as a language to dissect the relationships between objects, materials, and their roles in our experiential reality. In 2018 he earned his BFA in Painting from Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. In 2020 he graduated with his MFA degree from American University in Washington, D.C. He currently is a fellow in the Hamiltonian Fellowship program in Washington, D.C. Russo has Exhibited his work recently at Monopractice in Baltimore, Maryland and at But, Also in Washington, D.C.