Continuing through November 17, 2018
Matthew Mullins’ exhibition, titled “The Sun in our Bones,” is inspired by his connection to the New Mexico landscape. The collection of paintings, photographs and sculpture is unified by its exploration of the patterns and textures of the natural world. Though his subject often starts with the earth, he expands these themes by incorporating mandala-like geometrical design, and cosmic depictions of night skies. As the artist states, “I wanted to paint nature and natural process from the subatomic world to the stars.”
The exhibition begins with paintings which fall into two categories. Many begin with traditional, though wonderfully executed, New Mexico landscapes. Yet they are overlapped with simple, non-organic geometric designs that lend them a spiritual aspect. He also incorporates several cosmic paintings which also incorporate the geometric patterns, treating earth and sky as interchangeable and equally mysterious.
His sculptures, found pieces of juniper wood which Mullins burnishes and covers in graphite, accentuate the the sensibility of the paintings. However, his pinhole photography series is particularly fascinating. Leaving pinhole cameras throughout New Mexico for weeks or months at a time, many of the cameras become sacrificed to natural elements and wild animals. But those that survive offer a stunning and secret portrayal of the natural world that few of us ever get to see. “With these pinhole photos, I’m presenting different ways to look at nature and different ways of seeing time,” explains Mullins. These eerie impressions offer a unique and ethereal visual interpretation of earth and sky.
