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Kim Matthews makes nonobjective sculpture and drawings in various media, emphasizing process and materiality as a means to engage viewers in reflection. The recipient of a 2010–2011 Jerome Fiber Artist Project Grant, Ms. Matthews exhibits in nonprofit and commercial venues throughout the U.S. In 2017, she participated in her first international exhibition in Ukraine. Her work is featured in Lark Books’ 500 Paper Objects and Artistry in Fiber, Volume II: Sculpture, published by Schiffer. Ms. Matthews was born in Anchorage, Alaska, grew up and attended college in Maine, and has been living in Minneapolis, Minnesota since 1984.
Published on March 3rd, 2024. Artist responses collected in months previous.
What are you working on these days?
I’m still in an odd transitional phase. I have some projects underway that I’m not ready to talk about yet. I’m trying to figure out new ways of generating income—ideally, long-term, passive income—so I can afford do the work that matters most to me. I'm poking along on the Kites and 108 series and freestanding works while I work on my mystery project but nothing feels exactly right. Ironically, I don't do well with instability and insecurity. It's supposed to be good for you but there are just one too many things up in the air for me to be able to give my work the attention it needs to be effective.
What has been going well for you in your art career and life recently?
As I alluded to previously, I'm struggling with a lot of things but I’m grateful for what I have and what I’ve learned. I’m putting most of my effort into rethinking how I’m going to support myself for the next forty years. I have some ideas but I need help to realize them, so I’m researching and trying to network. Despite these challenges, though, I may be more self-confident than I've ever been--which is weird. And in my life, there remain solid, smart, and kind people who believe in me and my work, and I am so grateful for them.
What is something new that you have discovered this past year that is meaningful or helpful for you?
Despite how down I may sound, I’ve actually been undergoing some really powerful personal growth and am stronger in a lot of ways. It’s my art practice that’s changing, and I have no idea where it’s going. I’m just stuck and have been working at a snail’s pace this year and last year too, full of self-doubt about my work and whether I can achieve my goals in my lifetime. Unfortunately I’ve relied on artmaking to keep me feeling hopeful and it’s not happening. I’ve thought about quitting but then I’d really be wrecked; I don’t think I could handle it.
Briefly walk us through your process of making art or thinking through a new project, focusing on what's most important to you as you create.
What’s most important to me is to do what’s true as best as I can. I’m not into “self-expression” or “inspiration” per se and I’m not the kind of person who likes to fling materials around to see what happens either. I’m somewhat methodical or systematic in that I start out with some sort of scheme or germ of an idea or a drawing of a form that emerges whole from somewhere, then it’s the individual decisions—mark-making and so on, as well as my mental or spiritual state—that impart the energy into the work.
Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers?
I just keep coming back to the same thought as I try to navigate these rapidly changing times: love remains the only thing that matters. It's so important, especially now, to stay genuinely, fundamentally--not toxically--positive. Imagine what would happen if enough of us moved consciously through life and put as much love as we could--or at least an intent to do as little harm as possible--into everything we say and do. Love is the essence of craft and the source of all beauty.
What are you working on these days?
I’m still in an odd transitional phase. I have some projects underway that I’m not ready to talk about yet. I’m trying to figure out new ways of generating income—ideally, long-term, passive income—so I can afford do the work that matters most to me. I'm poking along on the Kites and 108 series and freestanding works while I work on my mystery project but nothing feels exactly right. Ironically, I don't do well with instability and insecurity. It's supposed to be good for you but there are just one too many things up in the air for me to be able to give my work the attention it needs to be effective.
What has been going well for you in your art career and life recently?
As I alluded to previously, I'm struggling with a lot of things but I’m grateful for what I have and what I’ve learned. I’m putting most of my effort into rethinking how I’m going to support myself for the next forty years. I have some ideas but I need help to realize them, so I’m researching and trying to network. Despite these challenges, though, I may be more self-confident than I've ever been--which is weird. And in my life, there remain solid, smart, and kind people who believe in me and my work, and I am so grateful for them.
What is something new that you have discovered this past year that is meaningful or helpful for you?
Despite how down I may sound, I’ve actually been undergoing some really powerful personal growth and am stronger in a lot of ways. It’s my art practice that’s changing, and I have no idea where it’s going. I’m just stuck and have been working at a snail’s pace this year and last year too, full of self-doubt about my work and whether I can achieve my goals in my lifetime. Unfortunately I’ve relied on artmaking to keep me feeling hopeful and it’s not happening. I’ve thought about quitting but then I’d really be wrecked; I don’t think I could handle it.
Briefly walk us through your process of making art or thinking through a new project, focusing on what's most important to you as you create.
What’s most important to me is to do what’s true as best as I can. I’m not into “self-expression” or “inspiration” per se and I’m not the kind of person who likes to fling materials around to see what happens either. I’m somewhat methodical or systematic in that I start out with some sort of scheme or germ of an idea or a drawing of a form that emerges whole from somewhere, then it’s the individual decisions—mark-making and so on, as well as my mental or spiritual state—that impart the energy into the work.
Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers?
I just keep coming back to the same thought as I try to navigate these rapidly changing times: love remains the only thing that matters. It's so important, especially now, to stay genuinely, fundamentally--not toxically--positive. Imagine what would happen if enough of us moved consciously through life and put as much love as we could--or at least an intent to do as little harm as possible--into everything we say and do. Love is the essence of craft and the source of all beauty.
Find Kim Matthews on Instagram
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