Matthew Cole

Region: Northeast

My paintings are reconstructions of certain memories I have felt an urgency to record, often representing potent personal experiences. Working from photographs as well as art-historical references, dreams, and the imaginary, I rarely restrict myself to a single source. Distortion and fragmentation are welcomed in my work, for I believe they are primary qualities of memory and the subconscious.

Carl Jung’s writings on visions and symbols have encouraged me to pay attention to certain images. He wrote, “The years when I was pursuing my inner images were the most important of my life—the later details are clarifications of the material that burst forth from the unconscious. It was the prima materia for a lifetime’s work.” Jung grasped the human psyche through writing, analyzing his own visions as well as those of his patients. I strive to elevate my own archetypal ideas through painting. Several of my images came to me in a “burst,” a term Jung used to describe the initial stages of archetypal image development.