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Exhibitions Visions
Show, Newport Congregational Church, Newport, RI
Exhibited digital prints
"East Icon" and "Welder." Won Visions 2002 Award Member's Invitational exhibition, South County Art Association, Kingston, RI, As one
of ten featured artists, presented a combination of sculptures and digital prints "Emerging Artists" exhibition, Mystic Art Association, Mystic, CT, Exhibited
sculpture "Clan Calipex Icon" and Digital print "Fretz the Bogbeaste" in
a show profiling the works of artists between the ages of 18 and 30 Artist of the Month at Corners Framing Store, Corners Framing Store, Attleboro, MA.
Exhibited Digital Prints "Frontier" and "Clan Consik" as part of the juried
"Artist of the Month" program Juried Art Annual,
Helme House Gallery, South County Art Association, Kingston, RI Exhibited
Digital Print "Welder" Spring All Media Open
Juried Exhibition, Helme House Gallery South County Art Association,
Kingston, RI, Exhibited mixed media sculpture "Clan Calipex Icon" and Digital
print
"General Togg" What is First Gear Territories?
First Gear Territories
is a series of images, characters, and stories based upon a fictional
realm in which the dominant species is known as the Endomeq. The
Endomeq are a cybernetic life form in an intricate society of rival
clans locked in perpetual conflict over natural resources. The primary
resource that is fought over is Eggs, from which all Endomeq are
born. These tribes and clans consequently have made the gathering,
raiding and protection of eggs their foremost priority- one that
justifies protracted military campaigns and a Neo-feudal social
structure. The religion of the Endomeq is one in which all Eggs
and resources are dispensed randomly throughout the territories
by a mysterious entity known only as the Great Gunfish. Religion
serves to maintain the dominant paradigm by giving a supernatural
rationale for the prevailing social order, and justifying any actions
undertaken to affirm that order.
The Endomeq are an extremely
dualistic, conservative society, and are generally intolerant of
ambiguity. The identity of the group is considered paramount for
survival, and anything that threatens the group, or is even perceived
to threaten the group, is often met with violent hostility. From
an early age, young Endomeq are indoctrinated with specific roles,
ideals and responsibilities, two of the foremost of these being
loyalty to the larger group and military valor. The Endomeq themselves
are, as a cybernetic species, characterized by a mechanistic appearance
with an outer skin made from metal, so as to protect them from the
ravages of a damaged, mutant environment, and a variety of external
weapons and tools. Some Endomeq even have the specific forms of
various vehicles and weaponry, and are highly prized for the strategic
advantage they give to their clans.
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Artist Instructor
Biography
Kryzsztof Mathews
Education
Master of Fine Arts, 2000,
University
of Wisconsin-Madison; Madison, WI
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Illustration,
1995 Rhode Island School of Design
Providence, RI
Artist Member of the Art League
Rhode Island; the Deblois Gallery,
Newport, RI; and the Wickford Art Association,
Wickford, RI.
Artist Profile:
BACK to Manga Class
My relationship the Manga art form.
I have been using a combination of physical
sculpture and digital technology as tools for illustration for several years. One of the continuing
inspirations for my work is the art of the Japanese print, animation, and comic book traditions.
These traditions take on two forms, Content and Craft.
Content: I am
fascinated with the portrayals of the Japanese warrior ideal through its heroes. One reason
for the continued popularity of these themes is the celebration of the extreme of a chivalric
code of honor. The heroes often find themselves caught between the obligations of the group
and the constraints of their own personal honor.
I have also have
an abiding fascination with the role of the cybernetic, or mechanical, which has been
a very prominent subject of Japanese comic tradition for the past fifty years. Many Japanese
comic stories profile the exploits of a variety of "Mecha", with their powered armour
as an exoskeletal manifestation of the heroes' might and skill. Series, such as the Transformers
are entirely
concerned with a warring society comprised entirely of robots.
My own work is
closest to the last in its content. I have spent the past few years creating the characters
and stories concerning a race of cybernetic organisms known as the Endomeq, who live in a feudal
society of warring clans.
Craft: Japanese
artwork has greatly influenced my style of illustration over the past few years. I have always
had a great appreciation for the bold contours and robust use of pattern and color in Japanese
prints, specifically the work of the artists Kuniyoshi, Yoshitoshi, and Hokusai, but it
was with my introduction to the work of the contemporary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.
I suddenly realized that the traditional aesthetic of the Japanese art forms (What Murakami
refers to as the "super-flat") was a vital and powerful means of expression by which
the use of line and bold color could serve to integrate and simplify composition and thus embolden
the content. This aesthetic was greatly complimentary to the conceptual themes of my art, which
concern the roles, conflicts, and responsibilities of the hero in a stratified, militarized
society. First Gear Territories
It is my intention to create a series
of prints and sculptures that serve to illustrate this society.
The artwork that I have created as part of the First Gear Territories
storyline is intended as an exploration and satire of the role of
the individual in an environment of violence, dogma and territorial
ambition. Towards that end, I am looking to focus on the role of
the Egg as the subject of the incessant inter-clan strife that defines
the everyday existence of the Endomeq culture. I look forward to
exploring the role of propaganda as a mechanism for maintaining
group solidarity, through the vilification of perceived enemies,
celebration of heroic ideals, and didactic presentation of potential
threats. http://www.firstgearterritories.com
for more details.
Krzysztof Mathews
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to Manga Class
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