David Matthew King Artist Residency

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AFTER THE BIG FIGHT

The studio is a place where all things that seem incongruous work to
find their place in a larger order. Words, images, sounds, memories,
conversations–everything is fair game, and if enough breathing room
is given the connections between all things will begin to reveal
themselves.

Some works in this collection continue my exploration in the language
of color and movement and balance and momentum. Other works reveal
another aspect of my process–one that lives mostly in the studio.
Drawings, text, marks, works on paper– these are the things that
populate my full-time work space. Many of these address more directly
the themes that lie indirectly beneath the surface of my paintings:
life, death, time, hope, failure, the problems of language, etc.

During several visits people have asked me how my time in London has
shaped my work over these last few weeks. While architecture and
interiors and weather have surely played a part, it has been the
sounds of new voices and conversations with friends and other artists
about love, life, death, the future, the past, our friends, families,
peers, our economic problems, our social problems, etc. which have had
the larger influence. Some of that influence is evident in these
works. Misguided expectations, poor self-censorship, unhelpful
directives, the desire to “do good” while having no universal
understanding of what “doing good” means.

My time in the studio is a struggle with myself. What to say, what not
to say, how to say it, how to show it, if to show it, how to hide it,
how to transform it, how to resurrect it. What fills the studio is the
carnage when the fight is over.

– -DMK