Mattie Iverson, Seattle, WA
Member Since June 2007
Artist Statement My work reflects my attraction to wide-open spaces, and the transitional variations of layered color found stacked within these large expanses.
Using only a palette knife, my language is a time-intensive process of putting down thin layers of paint over a textural surface. I organize, disrupt and balance the forms with subdued color, distilling my encounters into visual experiences. My compositions are defined by horizontal structures based on color and mass. They are stabilized by either opposing pressure found above and below a single “horizon” line, or by stacked and weighted bands of soft pulsating color.
I begin each composition with a small study on paper; at this stage, my intuitive spontaneity is key. When my process leads me to a finished study, I record in my notebook the color recipes, the development of the color application, and the measurements for each change in the composition. The final painting then takes on a different course of ordered and conscious specificity, in an attempt to capture what was found in the study, completing a process that is directed by chance and intention.
I am not a symbolist – I do not decide in advance what I will be painting or what kind of experience the painting will be. But in the act of resolving each painting, the piece truly becomes a real and unique experience. I seek to solidify what this experience is, not to identify it to something already known. My intention can be measured in the layers of paint by what was originally put down and how it is then covered up. It is the self-reflection as revealed in the outcome of my work that interests me most.
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