TONIA MATTHEWS

• Exhibition:

Artist Statement

Video of a gallery talk Matthews gave at Maryland Art Place

My current body of work is from an exhibition entitled “Girls Like Ice Cream.” The series of prints is an exhibit of everyday images that carry whimsical characteristics. These objects may be a pair of shoes, a group of purses or a basket filled with stars. The subject matter is gathered from childhood memories in rural Indiana and my current life in urban Baltimore.

My prints maintain a continuous theme that a single image is no more important than it’s surrounding environment. This theme is portrayed through energetic marks and color relationships that lead the eye back and forth between figure and ground. In this series, I demonstrate a rich combination of printmaking techniques such as etching, collagraph, relief, solar plates, and mezzotint. I combine various mediums in innovative ways,creating an active painterly surface that resembles playful loops and swirls.

Through technique and a whimsical outlook I infuse each image with energy, stunning color and moments of excitement.