Artist Statement
My work explores two differing aspects of my identity; the examination of repressed childhood memories and the experience of living as a person with physical disabilities. I am a mixed media artist who specializes in oil paint and traditional stoneware ceramics. In my painting practice, I investigate the erasure of my positive childhood memories through the predominance of negative childhood memories and newly returned repressed memories. I utilize abstraction to resurface repressed memories and color psychology to convey specific feelings that are stirred by their resurfacing. In my ceramics practice, I explore the objectification and infantilization of the disabled community and my place within that community as someone with invisible illnesses. With these pots, I blur the line between cute and grotesque. I wish for my viewers to be met with a large number of subjects they are unfamiliar with, and ask them to analyze their reaction to these differences. My goal for all of my work is to address conditions – both physical and mental – that are more common than people realize, but consistently underrepresented.
Mattie Fate Wild 