We were lucky to catch up with Matthew “Woody” Wood recently and have shared our conversation below.

Matthew “Woody”, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I feel like I won the lottery the day I was born. Without being too bias, I must say that my parents are two of the most loving, supportive and wonderful humans one could hope to know. Luckily, I just happened to be their son. No matter what decisions I’ve made over the years they’ve been there to help guide and ultimately encourage my growth and success. Whether it was moving from city to city, bouncing between Universities, or simply needing a chat; they have literally been there every step of the way. They’ve done everything right and because of this have enabled me to fail miserably at times, which in turn has lead to an ultimately fulfilling and fruitful life. There cannot be growth without strife and I feel like I’ve grown tremendously over the years, as a person and an artist. I owe it all to my parents.

One of my fondest memories would be having my folks at my graduation from The Kansas City Art Institute and coming with me to parties that night to celebrate. I’m pretty sure they had more fun than some of the graduates. A few days later a number of friends expressed how awesome it was “hanging out” with my parents and how cool they are.

They and my siblings also flew into Los Angeles for my first solo exhibition and the results were similar. Everyone commented on how great my family is and how lucky I am.

Nothing could more true… I’m the luckiest person I know.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a full-time visual artist and current resident artist at Cedars Union in downtown Dallas, TX. I received a BFA in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute and did my post-graduate work at NYU. While at NYU I interned at the Acconci Studio where I was fortunate to work with and alongside the late Vito Acconci, who was a pioneer in performance and video art as well as a world-renowned sculpture and architectural designer.

While at NYU I continued my undergraduate explorations into alternative ways to approach making a painting without physically painting, or using paint. This involved employing and searching for non-traditional methods and materials. Ultimately, I discovered vintage Chroma Rama paper. Chroma Rama is a pigment-rich colored paper that was produced from the mid-1960s to the early 1980’s. Chroma Rama’s surface is painted by machines and not by hand, or brush. Therefore, I consider my Biomorphagrams constructed paintings.

What’s a Biomorphagram you ask?.. It’s a term that I conceived of to refer to my artworks.

Around the same time that I discovered Chroma Rama I was thinking of making work that was more figurative, but also wanted to maintain its basis in abstraction. Thus, I began photographing pedestrians’ shadows and through an in-depth process of manipulating the resulting images I created my own visual language of abstract forms to employ in my work.

These newly found forms I named “Biomorphagrams”.

I strive to create artwork that is different and unique, but ultimately approachable. My goal is to entertain people visually and hope that they enjoy choosing their own adventures when viewing my work.

It’s great being back in Dallas and am excited to share my work with as many people as possible. You can find me at my studio at the Cedars Union in downtown Dallas through June 2023.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Like most people, there have been a few pitfalls along the way. Luckily, I’ve had amazing support from family and friends, Perhaps the most difficult time in my journey thus far is when I moved to New York City for graduate school. I was in my mid-twenties at the time and thought I had a pretty good grip on life and “reality”… Reality was I knew nothing. Nothing about the true nature of things. I moved there with a friend from Kansa City. We hit the highway with U-haul in tow and couldn’t have been more excited about life in NYC . Upon arrival things immediately got real. It was just past mid-night and we were lost in Brooklyn. There weren’t many people around and those that were weren’t that willing to help us with directions, or at the very least a friendly smile. Once we found our destination we were told that there wasn’t a room for us. So, we settled for sleeping on the floor. No big deal. The next day my friend told me that he’d come to the realization that he wanted to find his own apartment and that I’d have to find my own place as well. Unfortunately, my finances were waining and classes started in less than a week. I had to find a cheap place and fast… in New York City. Over the next few days I looked at countless sub-let options, from roach-infested apartments and closets to dirty futons in the corner of someone’s studio apartment. Ultimately, I found a lovely place in Brooklyn to stay. School began a day later and everything started to fall into place. Two weeks went by and I received a phone call informing me that the only other person I knew in the city, another friend from college, had passed due to an overdose. My world was rocked. This is the first friend I had lost and the past two weeks had already been crushing. I asked myself if this was truly the place for me, or if I should pack it in? After a couple of days I decided to stay and finish what I had just started. I told myself, “Two years.. it’s only two years.” That was in 2000 and I stayed until 2009. I guess things worked out pretty well.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

There are many rewarding factors of being an artist. Ultimately, I’m able to be myself and have fun. I’m free to explore, create and share my work and ideas. I make my own goals, set my own schedule and answer to myself.

The most rewarding aspect for me is twofold, in the ability to physically create objects and the privilege to share the objects I make.

Contact Info:

• Website: artbywoody.com
• Instagram: @woodymatthews
• Facebook: Matthew Wood