We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Matt Tripodi. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Matt below.
Hi Matt, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?
My first instinct is to quickly answer “sooner.” I’ve got a pretty random story of how I ended up here. I was always into artsy stuff growing up as a little kid and into high school – more than your average kid. My mom would have me in different classes here or there for acrylic and watercolor, or pottery, ceramics, and other crafts and I loved it. I like to think I was really talented for the groups I found myself in, and I straddled the artist/jock/nerd lines until I graduated. But after high school it felt like my involvement in art hit a brick wall – I just stopped drawing and painting altogether. The backstory being that I grew up in and around the military (my dad was a Blackhawk pilot) and I wasn’t exposed to much art in my daily life at all- which is to say I was absolutely ignorant to any of the artistic career paths out there, and having been a good all-around student, went to college with no direction – I just figured I’d find my way eventually. Which I didn’t. I got toward my senior year and still hadn’t really settled on a path, and so I kind of panicked and decided to pick the quickest path to a degree with the military in mind. I ended up with an Economics degree and enrolled in a pilot course and ultimately was accepted into Officer Candidate School and the Naval Flight Program. This was all as things in Afghanistan were ramping up and just as I was headed in to sign on the dotted line, the commitment went from 5 years of mandatory service to 9-plus with a no end date provision. Needless to say, I bailed at the last minute and was basically standing pants-down with an Econ degree I didn’t want. Fast forward a few years and I’m working for the BLS in Boston as an economist. On a random trip down to NYC to see Rage Against the Machine at Rock the Bells I met my future wife, Kaitlyn Tucek. (The long-story-short, one line version, is that she fainted in the mosh-pit where I caught her and crowd-surfed her and I out, thereby saving her life, and then giving her a piggyback ride into Manhattan from Randalls Island because she lost her flip flops). I moved in with her 4 months later and this is where I hopped life tracks, because it’s through her that I was really exposed to art and an artist community for the first time. Kaitlyn is a Pratt grad and the friend group was all artists as well. I just slowly started to absorb things – though still not making anything because I was ultimately intimidated by how unbelievably good everyone around me was. It wasn’t until we finally moved out of the city and to Denver that I really sat down and made art for the first time since high school – this is around 2018. It’s been a remarkable journey since then, and I feel like I’m getting better every day. The community here has been really great and supportive and the connections and opportunities keep growing. While I can imagine an alternate universe where I had started much earlier and gained all the technical proficiency, I also appreciate the disconnect and freedom I enjoy having not gone through the art school machine. So while I initially wanted to answer “sooner,” I think I may be right where I belong.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
If I’m describing me as an artist, it’s that I really like to make work that I like. Which I know sounds silly and a bit obvious but isn’t always true for artists out there. I make things that I would hang on my own walls in my own home. I make things that I want to live with. And I think I have good taste. I like fun. I’m a dad. I embrace those two things. I think my art got a lot better after having kids and observing them and their aesthetic when they were very young. There is something extremely pleasing about a totally fucked-up drawing or sculpture that keeps it fresh and worth looking at again and again. That aesthetic has crept into a lot of the work I make. If you scroll back far enough, you can see how things have evolved from an inclination toward realism to where my paintings are now. Most recently I’ve fallen down a sculptural rabbit hole that I’m really enjoying. As for the content of the work I make, it’s a bit all over the place but almost always has a humorous angle. I like a good joke. I still find it funny to draw a penis on a friend’s foggy car window or shower door. I like a good play on words. I like to make fun of the art world and to poke fun at religion. I think the best compliment is when my kid’s friends come over and pop their head into the studio and I get a “THAT’S AWESOME.” I’m all about the critical acclaim from an 8 year old.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I had known to seek out an artist “community” going way back. It’s through the community that you’ll stumble across everything you need. I got really lucky to fall headlong into one when I met Kaitlyn, but it’s the people you meet that will be able to connect you to the resources you need. Get out, go to openings, see art, visit museums, talk to others artists, do studio visits, and let it all seep in.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I think the most rewarding aspect is simply the level of enrichment you get from having a life avenue outside of the typical human routine. It really opens up so many other doors and conversations that maybe your average non-creative isn’t a part of. Making art allows you to literally give a part of you away to other people.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://matthewtripodi.com
- Instagram: @deputyglitters
