Just wanted to drop in to announce my upcoming group show, back at Unterhammer, where I showed a couple of years ago. I’m excited to be part of a new group of artists, which includes Angie Horleman, Elsa Vogt-Remachers, DUZA and myself, plus two dancers, Salvatore Nicolosi and Katelyn Skelley, who will be doing a one-of-a-kind performance connected to the art on the walls. This is our inaugural project together as a group. The only thing that binds all the works together is the name of our group, mata+, and the square format. All work must be either 100 x 100 or 40 x 40 cm.

mata+ is a made up word with many coincidental meanings in multiple languages. My favorite ones are the Spanish idiom “saltar de la mata,” which means “coming to light” and Sanskrit, meaning “thought” or “intention.”

The more my work evolves and I grow as an artist, I know that I feel something essential coming to light, some purity of intention making itself known. For me, embracing this concept and the format was about challenging myself further as an artist and finding more freedom within the parameters. Here is a preview of some of the work I’ll be showing.

As far as titles, I just decided to have fun with these, letting them relate to the thoughts that pop into my head when I look at them or TV shows or movies I’m thinking about these days. The Sparrow and the Crocodile, however, refer to a memory I have of my childhood bedroom ceiling. In the textured spackling, I could clearly see a sparrow flying straight into the open mouth of a croc or alligator shape, a couple of feet away. Of course, it was a static image, so the sparrow never gets closer to its demise. Night after night I would stare at that drama as I was going to sleep. It didn’t scare me, but it did leave an indelible impression on me, for sure.

More details and pics soon, particularly of our opening on Wednesday, 7 March at 7pm!

Unterhammer 3, 67705 Trippstadt