Without War Paint: Mathew Curran

Mathew Curran’s practice merges his formal training in printmaking and graphic design with methods honed through countless hours spent tagging, pasting and stenciling in public spaces. The transition from street art to a dedicated studio practice has strengthened Curran’s connection to his process and allowed him to explore a broader visual language.

Curran works in the same spontaneous and loose style as when he tagged walls as a younger artist. He creates small gestural paintings in ink, then translates them to stencils by hand cutting paper. These stencils are layered repeatedly to create wall pieces or preserved and framed until they naturally disintegrate.

Over the years Curran has refined this repetition to a meditative process and internalized it as a form of spiritual practice. His subject matter is derived from experiences with the wildness of nature. By layering images of natural forms, Curran creates another world within the one where we currently reside, inviting the viewer to reflect on the sacred space in our everyday lives.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website