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Matthew Ferguson

Artist member since 2023
Barrie, Ontario

I am a Barrie-based multidisciplinary artist who combines traditional realism painting with digital media and explores themes of materiality and the relationship between form and function through paralleling the organic elements of corporeal subjects with human-made materials. Stemming from an injury to my dominant hand that caused me to consider and investigate the machine-like qualities of the body, my practice focuses on creating mechanical/synthetic versions of my subjects in order to reference the fact that all people are made of the same fundamental components and possess the same basic needs. Within my practice, I build 3D models of my subjects in order to experiment with the formal elements prior to painting; I digitally project these models onto 2D surfaces and paint them in acrylic and watercolour with an emphasis on realistic texture and dramatic lighting. Drawing upon contemporary digital artists such as Oliver Marinkoski and Antoni Tudisco, as well as classical Renaissance and Baroque styles, I create a sense of depth, movement, and physical space through the use of vibrant colours and contrasting tonality.. I am currently exploring this process/body of work through a Concept to Realization project grant funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, which will culminate in my first solo exhibition in May 2024.

Inside the Studio

MOST VIEWED
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Elbow Joint Study
Matthew Ferguson
Upcoming Exhibitions
2024-06-01

Spare Room Gallery, Barrie, ON
Sonder

2023-11-10
Select Past Exhibitions
2023

Double Door Gallery, Anten Mills, ON
Spare Room Group Show

2023

Pazan Galery - Colour and Form Society, Mississauga, ON
71st Annual Open Juried Exhibition

2023

Spare Room Gallery, Barrie, ON
Skate Deck Show

2023

Ontario Society of Artists at John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON
Colour Splash, 149th Open Juried Exhibition

2023

Ontario Society of Artists at John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON
Emerging Artists Juried Show

2023

Visual Arts Mississauga at Riverwood, Mississauga, ON
Why Do You Create?

2022

International Conference of Residency Education, Montreal, QB
The Body Electric 2022

2022

Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, ON
Juried Show of Fine Arts 2022

2022

100 Kellogg Lane, London, ON
Art Comp

2022

Neilson Park Creative Centre, Etobicoke, ON
Overzealous

2022

Visual Arts Mississauga at Riverwood, Mississauga, ON
Why Do You Create?

2022

Gallery 1313, Toronto, ON
Winter Emerging Artists Exhibition

2021

Neilson Park Creative Centre, Etobicoke, ON
IMPACT 2021 Online Juried Exhibition

Accolades
2023

Ontario Arts Council - Timmons Museum: National Exhibition Centre
Exhibition Assistance Grant

2023

Ontario Arts Council - MacLaren Arts Centre
Exhibition Assistance Grant

2023

Canada Council for the Arts
Concept to Realization Grant

Education
2021

Brock University, St. Catharines, ON
BFA in Fine Art

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