HYLAND MATHER

For Me, There is ‘Zen’ in making.

I find the process meditative.

aesthetically I Seek ‘balance’ in the work and in the practice. 

I Sketch all the time, but I rarely start with a fully formed plan when I make physical things, and I only know a piece is finished when it feels Visually harmonious .   

Although I explore a handful of distinct ‘bodies’ of work in my practice, I am most recognized for my ‘lost object’ assemblages. 

in all of my work though I am interested in geometry, nature, shape, color, composition, and imagery.

The ‘lost object’ works are made from found or as I like to say ‘lost’ items, and range in scale from the intimate free standing sculptures in my  ‘modus volito’ series, to extremely large mural scale installations. In these works, I find balance in the coincidental collaboration I have with time and nature and the effect those elegant, massive, relentless, humbling forces have on the materials and on the finished works.

I also have an ongoing ‘shape pile’ series of work.  In this work I create very graphic and flat paintings using simple geometric forms to create a balanced composition.  This work ranges in size from traditional canvases to very large murals. In these works, I seek balance by creating and using shapes that are very close to, but more organic than the traditional hard versions of classic geometric shapes (triangle, square, circle) .  By creating shapes that remind us of those basic simple geometries but that have a more organic feel, I find a balance that feels more natural than ‘perfect’.   

in my current practice I am also making and meditating on what I call the ‘inspiring note’ series.  These compositions are text based and use fonts that I’ve created specifically for this body of work.  These are sometimes produced as papercuts with collage background for gallery exhibition, and they appear as large scale high contrast murals for public or private projects.  I find balance in this body of work, by seeking slogans that have both a positive and inspiring message, but at the same time, especially in the gallery works, can be interpreted from several viewpoints.  For example, an ‘inspiring note’ with the slogan ‘When Can I See You?’ feels both excited, but also has a feeling of longing attached to it. It feels balanced in this way.