Kaleido Artists
Matt JenkinsBiography:
Born in Neath, Wales in 1981 and now based in Bristol, Matthew Jenkins is obsessed with the flowing liquid texture of household gloss paint and seeing how it spreads and dries. In Matthew’s work he observes how the flow of paint itself creates and develops a surface. He pours the paint but leaves the surface forms to evolve naturally without his control.
As an emerging artist Matthew Jenkins had already exhibited his work in Britain and Europe before he began studying for his BA (Hons) in Painting. He was a representative for the University of Wolverhampton for the Hans Brinker Budget Prize, Amsterdam 2003 and New Horizons, Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Gallery, Birmingham 2004. Much of Matthew’s early work comprises dogs and figurative expressions of their humorous nature and characteristics. The eye contact with his own family dogs led to an awareness of their style of communication, and this led to the title series ‘ghost’, which was exhibited in Britain and Stockholm in 2004.
After completing his BA Degree, Matthew Jenkins moved back to Wales to study for a Master of Arts Degree in Fine Arts at Cardiff University. Here he discovered more about the potential of his work, and produced the videowork “Dogness” (2005) by filming the dogs’ activity while wandering round the park. This again contained the humorous element and chromophobia pigment. The video was silent, without a musical score. Matthew Jenkins completed his MA Degree and continues to paint and explore the medium of video work.
Statement:
Surface has become one of the most important aspects of Matthew's work. The image itself becomes a form of communication with the surface where details seem to appear in naturally occurring spontaneous compositions. Changes happen on the surface when trapped bubbles appear and also where the boundaries of colours meet. When the surface of the painting is cracked with bubbles it can be more appealing to touch. The crackles break up the smoothness of the surface. All these details become representative of the fragile nature of life.
The eye is the most important aspect of contact between the viewers. It has the most powerful grip and control on the viewer. The powerful pigment of the eye catches you, close enough to blind you. Being unable to hear from birth means that all his attention is focused through his sense of vision. This instinctive observing of fine detail around him helps him to carefully capture emotion and human behaviour which is often overlooked by hearing society.
More of Matt's work can be seen at http://www.mattdjenkins.co.uk/home.htm
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