Exploration of the Creative Process - MATTHEW WONG - Part III by Amelia Ah You

It was on Instagram where I found “Matthew Wong: Blue View” show at the AGO. I was immediately captivated by the images I saw. Then to see them live was truly an amazing and moving experience. I found his work to be imaginative borne of intense interior monologue, rich in texture and a masterful use of colour

Matthew Wong died in October 2019 at the age of 35.

The following is an excerpt from an interview by Maria Vogel, November 2018:

“Can you tell us about your process? How do you go about creating a new work?

Detail from See You On the Other Side by Matthew Wong, 2019

My process is not limited to the time spent in my studio painting, in fact I would say over the past year the making of my work has come to a rhythm where most of the work is done in idle moments when I am at home daydreaming, or watching movies and listening to music, drinking coffee or going out on walks that have no destination or purpose in mind. During these in-between moments I’ll often have quick flashes of imagery appear in and out of my thoughts, they could be shaped or triggered by something I saw or heard out in the world, an artwork I have seen, and more and more the works I have done in the past. Going by intuition and my emotions I will then head to the studio and set out to elaborate in paint these vague glimpses I get. The process is improvisatory as I don’t do any sketching or planning beforehand. The actual time spent painting is meditative in nature and they inevitably come to appear as they do in the final image, and I don’t spend too long deliberating on decisions, simply trusting my instinct and the flow from hand to surface.”

The complete interview can be found here:>

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