Life Without Lines: The Art Portfolio of Matthew Haynes
Matthew Haynes is a painter who works in a brightly colourful, graphic style. The artist’s illustrative paintings seek to present scenes of life without lines -- whether those are outlines or dividing lines. The artist’s portfolio addresses the psychological and philosophical through a dreamlike, fantastical lens.
I really enjoy the way that Matthew emphasizes the “linelessness” of his artworks, using colour theory as a tool to create volume and depth, positioning planes of a certain colour next to successive shades or tints of the same colour to create gradients that suggest light or even heat. I also really enjoy the artist’s subject matter -- Mathew sometimes uses human figures, placing them in unlikely or magical scenarios. Elements of science fiction, fantasy, and comic-book storytelling are frequent motifs.
Matthew’s 2019-2020 series Crisis is especially powerful. Here the artist focuses on central human figures, often deconstructed, often contorted into expressions that speak of anger, pain, or fear. The simplicity of these works along with their real-time context allows freedom for interpretation within a clear message of human struggle.
