Vanessa Matten Artist

About

I am an artist living and working in South East London. I completed a foundation course at Middlesex University and then went to the Art School at Sunderland University, graduating in 1983 with a BA in Fine Art. I then worked as an artist and artworker within the print industry, continuing in these sectors variously full-time and freelance. During this time I was also able to incorporate commissions with selling and exhibiting my own work.

This site features work I have created during these years as well as more recent ongoing projects. Some of the pieces are more immediate and some are more finished, according to their purpose.

The qualities I wish to convey through my practice are fidelity and integrity and I seek accuracy of intention above representational accuracy. My work is intuitive, expressionist and figuratively naïve in approach. I am looking to create rather than capture a moment.

Art is a precious commodity, pleasurable and profound and essential. I aim to convey empathy and understanding within this framework. The relationship between artist and viewer is ambiguous; the role of the artist is to facilitate a communication that is as tangible as necessary. There is plenty to be said about art but it is the viewer that has the final say.