We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Matt Bilfield. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Matt below.
Matt, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
Being a creative and having a traditional job both have their ups and downs. For much of my career, I worked in television on the creative side and in corporate roles while pursuing my art on the side. It was only after more than a decade that I made the leap to being a full-time artist. So, I don’t really wonder what it’s like to have a regular job anymore; instead, I reflect on the contrasts between the two.
Art was always a great escape from the demands of my day job, but balancing it with work was challenging. There were always more ideas to explore, shows to pursue, and the business side of things like marketing, networking, and managing finances all of which took up a lot of time. As a full-time artist, I’m now able to dive into these areas without the constraints of a 9-to-5. I have the freedom to experiment with new ideas, build relationships within the industry, and focus on long-term goals for my art practice all without the distractions of an employer’s expectations. That kind of control over my time is something I truly value, and I definitely don’t miss eight-hour days of Zoom calls!
Of course, being an artist comes with its own set of challenges. The freedom to manage my time also means navigating uncertainty and the unpredictability of creative work. It’s a trade-off, but one that I’m happy to make for the autonomy and personal fulfillment it brings.
Matt, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
While I’ve always had creative hobbies and enjoyed making art, I consider the real “start” of my career to be in 2007, when I created my first piece using wooden pegs. I had just bought my first home, remodeled it, and needed art for the living room but had no money left. I wanted something large but subtle, impactful from various angles, and that would add depth, color, and texture to the space. I ended up using a piece of hardware store pegboard, framing it with ¼” moulding, and hand-cutting thousands of wooden pegs without a clear image or subject in mind. Eventually, I decided to adapt pop art imagery to the medium, and after 4-6 months of slow progress, the piece came together.
This was pre-social media, so I built a simple webpage to share it with friends and family. To my surprise, it went viral and I woke up to over a million site visits and hundreds of emails. Suddenly, I had the opportunity and the challenge of figuring out how to make more art, how to scale production, how to ship pieces, and what to charge. It took years of trial and error, but I started sourcing help to make the pegs, refining their quality, and working on the logistics.
For my first solo show, I used hardware store pegboard framed by a local shop, and while the pieces still had a homemade, “crafty” feel, they worked for a time. Despite being proud of the turnout and attendance, none of the pieces sold. So, I took them home and began selling them individually, at a nearly a loss, until I got a call from Krause Gallery in New York. The owner, Benjamin, liked what I was doing but suggested I refine the fabrication to make the work feel less “crafty.” That advice was a turning point. I found a CNC shop to custom-machine the drilling, sourced higher-quality materials, and created a piece that ultimately sold. After more feedback and revisions, things really took off.
Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to show with numerous galleries and experiment with different styles. Early on, my work was heavily influenced by pop art, but I later shifted toward mathematical gradations, creating smooth transitions of color through precise calculations. This approach allows the viewer to either simply enjoy the work visually or dive deeper into how it was made. Many of my color palettes are inspired by nature – sunsets, sunrises, the night sky, and space which has made my work more adaptable for custom commissions.
Recently, I’ve taken my art in two new directions. First, I’ve introduced an organic, wave-like drilling pattern that creates an illusion of depth, which I’m particularly proud of. Second, I’ve returned to more representational work, focusing on florals like cherry blossoms and bouquets. These pieces offer a contrast to the precise, calculated gradients, allowing me to work more intuitively, using the pegs like droplets of paint to shape the images by eye. I find that switching between these two approaches keeps the process exciting, and I’m really pleased with my recent body of work.
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
That’s quite a question! To provide some context, when NFTs first gained attention, I had a knee-jerk reaction. The idea of paying large sums for digital art felt disconnected from the medium itself. Beeple’s record-breaking sale made it seem like everyone was jumping on a bandwagon, with more focus on money than the art. Of course, there were early NFTs that were practically free, but the mainstream explosion seemed more about hype than substance.
That said, I was also intrigued. I’ve been interested in crypto for a while, and as an artist, NFTs seemed like a natural intersection of my two passions. A friend of mine, who was really into the space, encouraged me to give it a try. I had a body of work, particularly my “Transitions” series, that seemed like a good fit. After some initial resistance, I decided to dive in and release a few NFTs. To my surprise, they sold.
Through this process, I discovered Art Blocks, a platform focused on generative art, and connected with an incredibly talented generative artist named Jason Ting. We began collaborating to adapt my “Transitions” series into generative digital art. What started as a simple visual recreation evolved over months into something much more – animations, customizations like night mode, the ability to manipulate the images, and even syncing the art to your own music via Spotify.
What I quickly realized was that the value in NFTs wasn’t just about financial speculation, it was about creating something that was natively digital, interactive, and unique. It offered the opportunity to bring art to audiences in a way that physical pieces couldn’t, and at (initially) affordable prices. The “Transitions” project ended up being a huge success. We launched at just the right time, and in about an hour, we sold around 5,000 unique pieces. The secondary market took off, and those pieces were traded thousands of times.
That day was life-changing for me. I remember pacing around the block, crying, because it felt like all the years of hard work, failures, and struggles had culminated in that one moment of success.
At the time, I was still working in television, but the success of the NFT project opened the door to a career shift. I was able to help start an NFT division within my company, working on high-profile projects with major IPs. It was a massive challenge, but also a rewarding experience as I helped navigate this emerging, high-risk space.
As we know, the NFT and crypto market experienced a sharp decline after the initial boom, and I’ve had time to reflect on my views. My initial skepticism about the speculative nature of NFTs still stands. While I believe there’s an undeniable place for natively digital art, and that digital artists should be compensated fairly, just like those who create physical work, I also feel that much of the NFT market was driven by financial speculation, which often led to volatile and unsustainable value trends.
That said, I still believe NFTs are here to stay. They solve important issues, especially around the ownership and authentication of digital art. The tokenization of real-world assets is also incredibly exciting. What I hope for the next generation of art NFTs is that they are purchased and sold with authenticity, to enjoy the artwork and experience itself, rather than speculate on its future value.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Two parts come to mind. One is the gratification of seeing a piece transition from the inside of my mind to its physical form. The second is when someone chooses to hang the piece in their space and see it every day. There are definitely other rewarding parts of the process but those are at the top of my list.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mattbilfield.com
- Instagram: mattbilfield
- Twitter: mattbilfield
- Youtube: mattbilfield
