Matt Smith Chavez

Matt Smith Chavez creates mixed-media painted collages using a distinctive technique of layering silkscreened, machine-stitched fabric atop batting, wood, or directly on the wall. Sometimes painting directly onto the topmost layer, he adds geometric patterns that work in dialogue with the rectangular form of the fabric and, in some cases, the lines created by the painted wooden support—which he allows to exceed the frame established by the fabric. Smith-Chavez deconstructs the quilt as a domestic symbol into its constitutive elements (fabric and batting), then reconstitutes them into objects that work within the horizon of Minimalism and early Conceptual Art.