My work explores process, utility and form and often draws from the transformation of the Midwest landscape, particularly that of farmlands that have deteriorated due to inactivity and redevelopment. These works are also inspired by the idea of nostalgia, independency/dependency, fossils, barns and grain silos, water towers, roadway billboards and other architectural elements that have interest in mass, volume and gravity that riddle this landscape. While often dilapidated and degenerate, these architectural landmarks continue to endure amongst the contemporary sprawl and it is from these that I pull information of time, history, layers and information of structure and construction to create functional objects.
Biography:
Matt Hutton earned his BFA in woodworking and furniture design at the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana and an MFA from San Diego State University. Matt has also studied woodworking in England and Japan. Over the past fourteen years, Matt has been an instrumental leader in establishing a nationally recognized woodworking and furniture design program at the Maine College of Art in Portland, ME, where he is currently an Associate Professor.
Matt produces work for sale and exhibition at STUDIO 24b in Portland, ME, a 650 sq. ft. artist studio that Hutton constructed in 2009.