The recent pieces by Austin primarily based illustrator Matthew Woodson arrived in his store as a fall of 10 new prints. Eight of them are 10″ x 12″ and two are 10″ x 10.” Two share a naming plan, CNCT DTS 01 A and CNCT DTS 02 A respectively. 5 other folks share the S/P prefix in their title, which is not as potent of a direct lineage to language as CNCT DTS is to Hook up DOTS.
In the course of the collection a human-like determine stands, its experience in the direction of the viewer. At its side, a faceless puppy, its head ink black. In the ultimate two prints, the doggy stands alone. These remaining pieces are titled FAREWELL and GOODBYE. None of these facts suggest anything on their very own but when in taking in new work from Matthew Woodson it is most effective to sit with each element awhile. In the stark components of his illustrations is a very simple magic, an alien voice speaking.
The ten prints are not explicitly labeled as a sequence, as are none of Woodson’s string of equivalent illustrations. The puppy at the side of the figure, a hollow sack of apparel perhaps, a scarecrow serious plenty of to retain a pet at its facet. When the figure is gone, the pet dog stands alone. Did our presence scare off the scarecrow? Is the viewer the crow to be frightened off, or the predicted guest arriving as well late? The only scarecrow with out a hand drawn smiling deal with is the just one that stands sans canine. No dog to hold up the pretense of staying human. These are the tales Woodson evokes.
In CNCT DTS 01 A and CNCT DTS 02, it’s as if Woodson is playing a activity — tracing the arc of the chook with the eye, connecting the details of entry and retreat. It feels like a lookup for reasoning driving flight, how it functions. Why it works. Woodson has explored equivalent principles in his series of GOG objects. There’s a naïveté in direction of the remedy of the shapes. A exploring for perception in a senseless earth.
In these most up-to-date prints Woodson continues to share a tale of his personal earning, or of our individual, or probably a dreamstate where by all knowledge of this iconography is shared. Woodson’s prints lay out like photos from one more culture seeking to converse, but we do not speak the exact language.