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Inside the mind of Matthew Clifford

When Kendra Ezekiel invited me to show at The Interim she suggested I think outside the box.My last three shows were figurative works, and I didn?t want to fall back on the comfort of that.I found myself at the computer, literally scribbling with the mouse, stirring pixels on the screen, and the words ?Think outside the box? running through my head.

When Kendra Ezekiel invited me to show at The Interim she suggested I think outside the box.

My last three shows were figurative works, and I didn?t want to fall back on the comfort of that.

I found myself at the computer, literally scribbling with the mouse, stirring pixels on the screen, and the words ?Think outside the box? running through my head.

I started thinking about the various boxes I?d inhabited in my life, boxes of thought, boxes of behaviour, and decided to interpret that visually.

The show is a metaphor I guess. Environment and experience lend parameters to our behaviour the second we enter the world.

These images are just a way of exploring the different ways we deal with that as people. Some conventions get old and we bust out of the box in search of something new.

Other times we settle in comfortably, either through complacency or a genuine sense of contentment.

I?ve been working digitally for ten years now.

I like the efficiency, being able to test ideas without sacrificing the hours or weeks or months that can be eaten up through more traditional methods.

That said, I like to create work that you?d think was produced through more traditional means.

This show for instance is more reminiscent of traditional printmaking techniques I?d used before being introduced to computers. Just a lot less messy.

This series took two months to complete. There?s a lot of detail, lots of layers.

As a printmaking exercise it would have taken me at least twice as long to produce, because printmaking involves lots of waiting around.

But every line you see, every pattern, was drawn from scratch using a mouse.

There?s no instant-art button. If there were I?d have to do something else.

Whenever I can get it.

I can?t identify a single image as my favourite.

The last couple pieces I worked on are quite vibrant, taking things to a different level.

These particular pieces are really the beginning of something new, which is a cool prospect for me.

?Bits of Scribble?

Yes. I?ve attended several openings there, each one bringing a notably different experience, each artist drawing a specific vibe and crowd.

If nothing else art provides a way for me to occasionally bust out of my own box, to see things in a different light.