Persistent: Matthew F. Fisher
Along the path into UX work, my first step was art school. I didn’t know what the future held and stepping into deep space sounded like a good idea.
I started studying sculpture, but eventually quit school, disillusioned and needing to explore. Eventually, I found my way back and picked up the study of painting & printmaking.
Along the way, I found a deep respect for people that kept creating, crafting, and fighting against the pull to pause.
One person is Matthew F. Fisher.
Flavors
Matthew was a graduate studies painter while I was undergrad. I would visit his studio and he was kind enough to show me around. He always had something cooking.
You see, Matthew was like a chef. His works were beautiful, but he was always exploring themes and flavors.
Matthew always knew where he was “sampling from”… and he would blend together flavors to make something distinctly his own.
By flavors, I’m thinking about art history or other contemporary artists. Even now, on Instagram, Matthew is aware that Georgia O’Keefe is resonating thru recent work.
I miss that about creating outside of UX — the recognition and respect for ways that another person’s work is showing up in your own. (Or the opposite direction of trying to lose any sense of where the work is going.)
Studio
Figuring out how to continue creating can be incredibly difficult, but Matthew always respected the studio and the work/lab environment. He was deliberate about creating a narrative that would help himself and others follow the work. Like good artists, he was in hot pursuit of where everything would lead.
Here’s Matthew in his studio. Seriously. Most likely it is this scenic.
Focus and Story
While in school, I recall some people wondering who would continue creating. There was only a small percentage of people that would continue on as a studio artist.
Not only did you have to play the game of galleries, documenting, pricing, and selling work. You also had to figure out how to keep going without boring yourself.
My guess is that three things fuel Matthew’s continued ability to keep creating:
- Respect for the studio space. It is a space for conversations, to invite others into. The studio is a laboratory for yourself and others to visit. For trusted people to walk (just about) into your soul and hang out for a while.
- Continued focus on art history, active creators, and everyday curiosities. Matthew continues to hone his ability to see, recognize, and observe. He respects and thrives how work from the past flows into his own work today.
- Developing a storyline for his work. Build the theme and ride it out. Figure out what it means and let the meaning stand.
If you’ve stopped creating, pick it back up again.
Maybe you can learn a bit about persistence from someone you see continuing to press in.
Maybe someone like Matthew.
