Matthew T McLaughlin
Collage Study 2, mixed media on panel (screenprint, spray paint, colored pencil and paint pen), 7"x11", 2020
“...without color the abstract approach to my work’s relationship with the land and the environment would be lost.”
Matthew T. McLaughlin is an artist living and working outside of Washington, D.C., (USA). His approach to color is instinctual and his approach to printmaking is meditative. His reflective, environmental and abstract work is created with screenprint and monoprint printmaking techniques along with spray paint, colored pencils, paint pen and graphite. Matthew’s current work pushes how he thinks around color and texture as it relates to mapping and meditative practices focusing on landscape imagery.
How does color represent or support the mind space of your work?
For me, color supports the mind space of my work by helping to convey a sense of the landscape needed for the viewer to see the image as it relates to the environment and their relationship with it. Whether it be from interacting with the landscape on a personal level or exploring it from an aerial perspective through maps, without color the abstract approach to my work's relationship with the land and the environment would be lost. There is such strong symbolism in the color of landscapes that people can naturally connect specific color schemes with specific places or regions. This relationship between the land and color drives the nature of my works and my exploration of color.
Collage Study 1, mixed media on panel (screenprint, spray paint, colored pencil and paint pen), 11"x7", 2019
Study 12 , Mixed media on panel (screenprint, spray paint, colored pencil and paint pen), 10"x10", 2019
Where do you reside between technical and intuitive in your work as an artist using color?
I lean heavily in the intuitive direction. I can talk theory and color schemes and I know it’s an influence in my use of color, but I never plan out my colors too specifically. When I go into the studio, I usually see what colors I already have on hand and see what has been left in the shop by others. I’ll choose a few to work with for that day and then go through my stack of prints to decide which might work better with that day’s color selection. My approach is very reactionary and based on my gut, but it’s also allowing myself the space to make mistakes. I might have a stack of 30 sheets to print on and by the end, I will probably have seen at least 5 or 6 that I know were a mistake to add those colors to.
What can printmaking ink achieve regarding color in your work that no other material can?
I think the huge advantage to working with printmaking ink over other materials is the flatness of its application combined with the ability to blend colors so well in the printing itself. I know that some of my process could be done with paint or other materials, but with screen print I can quickly knock out a lot of variations to select from while knowing it will be easy to draw and do more layering on the pieces without having too much texture to deal with. It would also take so much time to create a nice blend with paint or other materials that it seems like a waste of time, but with screen print I can grab three colors, pour them out, do some squeegee mixing and less than an hour later I have the blend printed on 30 sheets ready for the next layer.
Study 1. mixed media on panel (screenprint, spray paint, colored pencil and paint pen), 10"x10", 2019