Matt Neckers is part of Exposed 2011. He lives in Eden, Vermont
My artwork draws on several themes, which I have been trying to unravel for what seems like most of my adult life. In many cases, I consider my work to be part of an extended narrative or conversation, with characters, images, and ideas appearing and reappearing year after year. So why create a rocket? I’m fascinated by the idea of mechanization. Rockets can symbolize both exploration and imagination, but rockets can also be the delivery vehicle for destruction. In the classic sense, they are both creator and destroyer. In my artwork, rockets represent the cost of progress and the promise of the future.
My artistic process involves creating an image or a sculpture and then reinterpreting it, as a series, in a variety of media. For instance, I made my first rocket out of metal several years ago. Later I took a photo of that sculpture and altered the photo digitally. Then I created an analog painting based on the digital image. Finally I incorporated elements from each of these things into the mixed-media sculpture I made for this show.
Matt Neckers is a visual artist and teaching artist. His artwork is primarily mixed-media assemblage. Matt recently completed a yearlong Learning in Art and Culture Fellowship through the Vermont Studio Center, which was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Vermont Arts Council. This fellowship culminated in a solo show of his work in June 2010. Matt studied painting at Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA, and received his M.Ed. Arts in Education from St. Michael’s College, Vermont. Matt teaches art at Hyde Park Elementary School In Vermont. He also teaches a digital media course at St. Michael’s College.
ABOUT EXPOSED
For the past twenty years, the Helen Day Art Center has hosted an outdoor public art and sculpture exhibition called Exposed in Stowe, Vermont. Exposed hosts sculptures, site-specific installations, and participatory work from twenty-three national and international artists. the 2011 edition offers a series of Thursday night events by 12 video artists, writers, performers, and musicians accompany the exhibit. This exhibition and series of events is accompanied by cell phone audio tours, QR codes, walking tour maps, walkabouts, and a catalogue of the exhibit published by Kasini House Books. The exhibition will take place July 8th to October 8th, 2011.