Christy Matson

THE SUN AND THE MOON

The Sun and The Moon explores notions of production, beauty, and material through a calculated

balance of oppositions. The relationship of the machine and the handmade, the formal and

informal, the structure and unstructured provide the practical and conceptual foundation to this

body of work. Just as the sun and moon are independent forces that are equally necessary to keep

the universe in motion; in Matson’s weaving it is the relationship of opposites that coalesce into a

dynamic dimension. A casual spirit grounds these dualities producing work that is soft while

strong as an unexpected balance emerges from these tensions.

Developed through a rigorous, measured, and technical approach, and produced on a handoperated,

computer-programming Jacquard loom, each weaving begins with a complex structural

foundation. Within this structure, Matson inserts painterly and gestural marks through an

intuitive process of drawing with yarn. Conceptually, the duality of the machine and the hand,

both used in various modes of textile production, explores relationships of gender stereotypes;

the industrial and work made by hand.

The formal compositions in each piece are inspired by a range of sources centered around the

relationship of nature with the urban environment. These sources draw different and sometimes

conflicting connotations. The motif of a flower, for instance, might be regarded as rigorous in

modern art and yet dismissed as decorative in traditional arts. The use of gridded elements,

which are often emblematic of order and organization, instead become destabilizing thought the

loose manner in which they are rendered in Matson’s work. Her pieces flourish in these

differences with a complex beauty produced through composition, conceptual rigor, and material

expression.

The work takes a critical stance on the culture of excess and mass production. Matson often

selects leftover materials from the textile industry to reformulate their value. With a belief that

the materiality is as important as the composition, these surplus materials add important

qualities of texture, color, and happenstance.

Matson produces weavings that extend beyond formal considerations into questions of history,

process, and material studies. She pulls together differing and opposing methods and ideas to

push beyond the paradoxical into a productive relationship—as the sun and the moon activate

life. This series weaves the material with the immaterial through distinct compositions that

question the past as they chart new territories into the worlds of design, textiles, and fine art.