Brian Mathus
Drawing, Painting
Brian is a Dayton-based artist with a lifelong passion for visual expression. His artistic journey began in childhood, inspired by his mother’s drawings and fueled by early experiences at the Charles H. Taylor Arts Center and a formative period in Portland, OR, included studies at C.E. Mason and the Pacific NW College of Art, where he embraced a vibrant Fauvist approach.
As a founding member of Rake Art Gallery, Brian’s work garnered recognition, including a visit to China. While family and a decade of service in the Air National Guard took precedence, his creative spirit remained strong. He earned a graphic design degree, further developing his eye for composition and order. Today, his Dayton studio is a hub of artistic exploration, where he focuses on figurative painting and brings a unique perspective to his work.
In the past when I drew my face I drew the nose too big. A societal imposed prejudice had distorted how I saw. Determined, I sat down and painstakingly measured my nose on my face and drew it with emotional clarity. I rooted out a racist trope. Which distorted how I saw myself and others. Along the way, I removed more distorting imposed prejudice in my vision that was shifting how I saw. Over time removing one idea or another, I realized I could see trees like poetry I could see people without distortion, and I could see meaning in the shapes of things. I could see the world with emotional clarity and that’s what I paint.
I paint on canvas, wood, and paper. I use graphite and Conte crayon to draw interwoven relationships between objects, environments, and people. Using acrylic and oil paint, I create an atmosphere that shapes meaning with composition and color. I imbue my marks with my emotion then I step back and look at the construction of it to create the composition. I use the layers of paint to create depth and history. I scratch into it to reveal layers. I’ve integrated fauvism, cubism, abstract expressionism, and African art into my unique language of marks. I paint the work until I feel ecstatic at the sight of it.
Our minds navigate the world by creating images of it. I actively remove the distorted images and move towards emotionally clear ones. I use thin layers of paint to let the light in, which acts like a metaphor. It builds layer by layer until it reaches the ecstatic and the sublime. Shifting the images in my mind on canvas changes the world and it is as plain as the nose on my face.
There is an energy that lives inside us that is vital for vibrating strings and movement. These colors vibrate as if to vibrate into the picture or of the canvas. There is a whole in the perception that we have of each other that can never truly be filled except with presence. We carry the energy of our past and our nature and contain it in multiple ways. The stripes represent that kind of energy and where it is directed. It’s a representation of how we filter ourselves our natural energy and the tension that surfaces because of that containment. And its interaction between systems of people.
Evening
Acrylic and Oil on Wood