A self-titled ‘Grimbarian’ (he’s from Grimsby) Matthew Craven offers us a fantastic peek into the mind of a magician turned artist.
During his circus days as a school boy, with “a troupe of performers and entertainers a.k.a The Earth Bound Misfits, with whom I learned to juggle, breathe fire, unicycle, perform and all that sort of thing”, Matthew scooped the regional ‘Young Magician of the Year Award’ before joining the Magic Circle in the area.
But today his performance takes place on paper. Matthew’s attentive illustrations work through a variety of mediums that lace together succinct direction and meaningful presentation: “I try to produce images that aren’t too stereotypical and are void of fashionably niche cliché’s and wank vector décor.”
Aside from illustrating in triptych, as published here, similarities to Francis Bacon are hard to ignore; the disquieting, unnerving ambience, a central focus on gaping mouths and twisted depictions of face and torso, all resonate with the Irish painter.
“For my series of three illustrations I based it on ‘magic’. I don’t know if you’ve ever known any real magicians but they’re such fascinating creatures. The over-compensating nature of their gestures and misdirection make a floating match seem like a miracle by Jesus Christ (incidentally the final image wears a crown of thorns), which I find hilarious. To illustrate this ‘madness of mind reading’ I used ASCii to shadow a clownish and brutal ink drawing with some vague idea of the ‘magicians code’ and photography to illustrate the mind reading effect.”
In ‘Fruit bowl’ we can also recognise the visible ‘nets’ that Bacon would so often encase his own subjects within - a modern take on seemingly tired, conciliatory subject matter.
When asked of his future plans, Matthew answered in typical good humour: “I would like to tell you what my future plans are but people who read this and look at my work and will think ‘Oh my God, he’s a pretentious and delusional so-and-so from someplace I’ve never heard of…’ so I’ll, for now, keep my aspirations a closely guarded secret!”
So, guarded his intentions may be but it’s clear that illustration is his preferred career path. “Today though I either follow my heart and illustrate for a living or work at one of Grimsby’s prestigious fish production facilities, paying off a student loan for many years to come.”
Visit Matthew’s Profile Page for contact details, website links and a summary of featured articles on Fallyrag.