Laliderer Wande, lithograph

Matthew Rangel uses a varied artistic practice to capture American desert backcountry. Using drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, and historical gathering, the artist builds fragmented narratives that emphasize the isolation of the Sierra Nevada landscape. 

Gossip Rocks, lithograph and digital

Though currently based in California, Matthew has produced works for publications in Canada, the United States, and in Europe — a recent project saw the artist working in the Austrian Alps, producing works of drawing, cartography, and combinations of the two. Matthew’s work with maps is reminiscent of early pieces by Mark M. Garrett, and it’s interesting to be able to see the different aesthetic approaches these two artists take to cartographically-inspired works.

www.rangelstudio.com

I appreciate the subdued, almost desaturated aesthetic of Matthew’s portfolio overall. The greyscale or sepia-toned prints hold a sense of mystery, like photos and maps from hundreds of years ago rediscovered.

Nowande Karwendel, Field Drawing (detail) (photo by Phillip Wilkinson)