Megan Mattax

My work addresses loss and emotions entangled with grief.  To do this I incorporate mixed media and traditional fiber techniques with found objects, organic material and hand-spun threads.  I relate these pieces and their creation to the transformation from life to death, as seen in the stages of a woman’s life which is a symbolic reference to the nymph, mother, and crone. 

 

My working process also emulates the cycle of life.  Each piece is delicately bound and shaped to create a form that reflects organic materials, such as leaves, petals, and pods.  Then, I transform and shape these structures through powerful and destructive elements:  fire, water, and air.  Construction and destruction of the pieces emphasizes the brevity of its existence from one stage of life to another.  Each piece is meant to capture the beauty, pain, and release that I associate with the process leading to death. 

 

I am interested in knowledge.  Specifically how information is passed from one generation to the next.  I use book-like forms as a metaphor for the conduit in which knowledge is transferred.  By looking at the life cycle through various cultural lenses I am able to create universal metaphors for this passage of knowledge. 

 

Below are links to my most recent body of works:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/studio_mlmattax/sets/72157629316231151/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/studio_mlmattax/sets/72157629316299305/

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/studio_mlmattax/