Matthew Cramer

Matthew Cramer

Born in Cleveland, Ohio / Works in Burbank, California
BIO
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Matthew Cramer studied Fine Art at Ohio University and Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, earning an MFA and beginning his teaching career in New York City. He has been living in the Los Angeles area since 2005, creating and teaching at a charter school near downtown. He currently lives in Burbank with his family, drawing and painting in a home studio.
In these paintings and drawings, I am exploring an inner reality of opposing impulses, delusions, and absurdities that pass through the psyche. My self-portraits are a contemporary take on one of art’s oldest traditions. Inspired by the mundane daily act of seeing one’s own face in the mirror, I subvert the capturing of likeness, instead exploring concepts of masks and representing identity and thoughts, impulses, and emotions with a more abstracted approach. I use self-portraiture as a ritualistic format to explore shifting emotional states. I have always been drawn to self-portraits for their inherent intimacy, directness, and isolation. Sometimes these paintings are theatrical, while others indulge into abstraction. I have drawn inspiration from historical traditions of painting, psychedelia, and a personal iconography. I do not always know the exact outcome or even direction of a portrait when I begin, rather finding or clarifying meaning through the process. I find the forward-facing format freeing in its repetition and simplicity. Self-portraiture for me is a continuous place to contemplate the contradicting outer and inner imagery of the self.
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