Artist Statement

I am from a small town in Newfoundland, Canada. I grew up near the ocean, which is the inspiration for most of my artwork. I view the ocean, and nature in general, as beautiful, and untamed, having a personality of its own. The ocean can be calm and serene at times, and wild and untamed at others. It has also been merciless, claiming many lives. My artwork often invokes some of this moodiness and instability.

My drawings and paintings often have wild sweeping lines, undulating curves, spiraling forms, along with surreal looking landmasses. I use these various styles in combination to show movement and unruleliness. Sometimes they are complex and dizzying. Many times my artworks are "escapes" from the real world, hense bordering on surreal. This is because I use the real world as a basis and distort it in such a way that seems otherworldly.

In spite of the representational beginnings of my artworks, the underlying meaning is psychological in context, either blatant or implied. My art has been a type of "release" for emotions... a way of "hiding" them on the canvas without expressing them outwardly... and admittedly therapeutic.

Some of my influences through the years are the Group of Seven and Tom Thompson, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, and Salvador Dali. I also draw my inspiration from everyone and everything around me. It is the people closest to me that are my greatest influences.


Graham Matthews
BFA Visual Arts, SWGC, 1999