The Art of Matt DeFord

Work at University of Louisiana at Monroe

2010-04-12T10:45:00.007-05:00

My work was selected for a year-long install in the sculpture garden at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Here are some images.

New Exhibit "Connections"

2009-02-18T17:45:00.009-06:00

I just set up an exhibit at the University Gallery on the LSU-Alexandria campus. It is entitled "Connections". There will be a reception Friday, February 27th from 6-8pm.

Favorite Artists Part 2

2008-09-22T11:22:00.008-05:00

Cornelia Parker (1956-) is a British artist that utilizes the idea of comic violence in her work. Some of her work is the result of explosions. She had the British army blow up her garden shed. She then recreated the explosion in the gallery (see image at left.)

She also ran over a number of silver place settings with a steam roller and suspended them as flat disks.

Andy Goldsworthy (1956-) creates art from nature. His goes outdoors and painstakingly arranges what he finds into sculptural, temporary pieces. He's not out to create new objects, but new ways of seeing what is already there.

In this piece, he has taken icicles and broken them up. They are dipped in water and allowed to freeze together one piece at a time.
Here, Andy has created a woven pattern of sticks in water. The water mirrors the image and it appears to float.

Favorite Artists Part 1

2008-09-15T14:39:00.009-05:00

There are a few artists that just blow me away. I have been inspired by these folks in many different ways.

Alexander Calder (1898-1976) created a circus in the late '20's early 30's. It worked in such a way that he would perform it for crowds of people in his apartment. There's a great video about it called Calder's Circus. He also developed the mobile.

Calder was a very prolific artists and a slob.

Tim Hawkinson (1960-) has about as much fun as Calder did. His pieces involve machines, noise, and moving parts. On the left is the "Uberorgan" that he created with a number of bus-sized balloons that operated a light-sensor player piano of sorts. It emits an immense noise, like a fog horn.
On the right is the "Emotor." The self-portrait image has motors attached to each facial expression. The motors are operated by light sensors suction-cupped to a television. So whatever is on TV affects the facial expression.

Archie Bray Foundation

2008-08-28T16:59:00.004-05:00

I went to the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana for a three-day workshop with Ron Meyers. I won a grant to go through my school and thanks to the Derby family. It was a wonderful thing, this workshop.
Ron Meyers is a potter from Georgia who makes altered wheel-thrown pieces. Some examples of his work can be found at http://www.terraincognitostudios.com/exhibit_pages/meyers/meyer_pages/meyers.htm
and http://www.ceramicsculpture.com/Pages-Meyers/RM-NY/exhibit.htm.
He is a wonderful man who enjoys what he does and does it well.
I really think this will change my work.

The foundation was a great place. The air was dry and cool, and every where you looked, you could see amazing ceramic pieces from famous artists on the ground, in the bathrooms, shoved into cracks.

A guy I went to grad school with was in the same workshop, Sam Dowd. We had a fun time catching up.

2008-08-18T14:10:00.002-05:00

I used to work in neckties. My second semester in college we had a project in Sculpture 2 where we went to a thrift store to buy supplies for a sculpture. I bought 40 ties and decided to make a marionette. It was a success. The marionette "Tiesewn" had a wire skeleton with ties sewn all around it like muscle. It was heavy, but moved like a human.

I focused on painting for a few years in school, then realized that I like sewing ties better. I made one that was almost life-size. I worked on that thing everywhere I went. In brainstorming, I came up with many different varieties and decided that I would make a flying one and some hollow, wearable ones. I had a number of opportunities to exhibit the flying ones; Provo, UT (like the image above;) Alberta, Canada; Wamego, Kansas; and in the public library here in Natchitoches. The wearable pieces were in my first real solo exhibit in Alberta called "Shared."

For the Love of Heads

2008-08-15T14:07:00.007-05:00

Here are a few examples of heads. I have always drawn faces. We have a cast iron, cast bronze, watercolor, oil paint, and ceramic. It did have a huge head made out of ties but the file is corrupted.

As a kid, I owned a great book called "People" by Peter Speir. It showcased different cultures throughout the world and celebrates our diversity. There were pictures of different noses, eyes, hair etc. It is still in my subconsciousness. Below is the Amazon link to the book.

I still draw those noses while I'm supposed to be paying attention. http://www.amazon.com/People-Peter-Spier/dp/038524469X/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product

Memorial Bowl

2008-08-15T08:07:00.006-05:00

My grandmother was one of my heroes. She was an artist that inspired me in many different ways. When she visited, she would teach me drawing techniques and provide lots of opportunities and supplies. I remember canoing and clamming and playing on the beach with her.

When she died in December, she was cremated. Most of her ashes were spread in the Atlantic Ocean near where she would kayak. I took some of them and at the suggestion of one of her friends, wedged them into some clay and made some bowls. I raku fired them with a white crackle glaze. The final touch was rocks we collected on the beach while at her memorial service.

When I began to make the bowls, I asked a photography class if any of them wanted to document the process. Two students came down and took pictures. Here are a couple.

Back in Time a bit

2008-08-14T19:22:00.008-05:00

I have kept a sketchbook since I was 6 or 7. Needless to say, there's alot of pages of drawings. I found one from a book called "All About Me" I put together when I was in first grade. It was 1981.

This is a picture of my dad working at Bluegrass Data in Kentucky. I was really proud of the likeness. You can also see how forward-thinking I was. He seems to be working on one of the earliest laptops known to mankind.

This next picture is from a 1987 sketchbook. I was in Indiana and had created a number of comic strips. This one is called "Life in Indiana USA." It starred a number of my friends; Jeff, Mark, and Daniel to name a few. This one is of a boy disabling all the security devices so he can sneak a cookie. Hee hee.

I even took a stack of these comics to the local newspaper to ask permission to print them. I recieved my first of many rejections.

Other comic strips were "Stubborn Steve," "Mr. Phill" (I loved Phil Collins at the time, I was 11,) "Justin Case" about an accident-prone, baseball-wearing kid, and many others.

My siblings and I once printed a newspaper one boring Saturday and I did all the comics and illustrations.

I was an avid "Garfield" fan. I would draw him all the time. When I was 11, I wrote the cartoonist, Jim Davis and offered my services as an assistant. He wrote back an encouraging rejection letter.

This week Part 2

2008-08-14T18:12:00.004-05:00

I put up another piece today called "Sealed." I have been dreaming it about for months. I envision it to be part of a big series of rope pieces hanging on the gallery walls.

It is made up of steel rings screwed to the walls. Ropes are tied to them and fastened to two ceramic hands holding each other.

This piece touches on our dependence on one another, particularly those we are closest too. I was really thinking about growing old with my wife Julie. We keep each other up by holding on tight.

The rope was too thick for the small loops I made in the clay, so I unwound the three main strands so there was only two left. I used my boy scout experience (and a little help from Google) to wrap the ends together, avoiding a huge knot by the hands.

This week's art

2008-08-14T17:22:00.004-05:00

This week I have finished up a couple of pieces that began with the idea of "rope."

This piece is entitled "Caged Chaos." It's a little over 3 feet tall. I made it while thinking of my expanding family and the way that it has power to rise above the grinding, trapping influences if we are united. It is made out of wood, rope and steel. There is probably a thousand feet of rope in the cage.

The detail shot shows the family on a ring of steel on top.

As I was buying rope for this project, Philip Kidd, head of Technical Theater at NSU, said he had loads of old rope that was once used in the riggings of the main stage.

My new blog

2008-08-14T16:32:00.005-05:00

I will be posting art from throughout my life in an effort to preserve it and exhibit it. Please be patient with me, as I am not a consistent blogger.

If anyone has any of my art, and would like to contribute an image, please email it to me with applicable information.

"Dissolved Self"
9"x9"
2000
I painted this small self portrait while I was at BYU just before I switched my art emphasis to sculpture. I used my drivers' license as a reference.