ARTIST BIOGRAPHY:

Born in San Antonio, Texas, and raised on the west shore of Lake Erie, Matthew Forderer's oil paintings show his enthusiasm for nature and the organic. Compositions are filled with surrealistic imagery and symbolism.

He cites as his influences many of the surrealists including: Dali, Ernst, Tanguy, Magritte. Other influences include MC Escher, and pop-artists of the sixties, especially James Rosenquist.

Most of Matthew Forderer's work is in private collections, particularly in California, and his art has been featured in San Diego magazines such as Revolt In Style, The Metropolitan and Raw Talent.

INTERVIEW WITH THE ARTIST:
By Ann Berchtold, Site Curator
Sept. 24, 2001

SDA: Where do you find the unusual images you use to create your collages?

Matthew Forderer: Images come from old black and white books, encyclopedias and picture archives.

SDA: What inspired you to begin creating these collages?

MF: I took a very inspirational trip to New York in May of 1998. I bought a book of Max Ernst collages at the MOMA bookstore. I was already very interested in Surrealism and just loved these collages; they set my mind on fire. When I returned to my studio in San Diego, I was thinking about doing some collage of my own and then I noticed these old encyclopedias that were collecting dust. I looked through them and collage ideas were racing through my head. I began dissecting them immediately.

SDA: You credit Surrealists such as Ernst, Dalí and Magritte. How did they influence your style and process?

MF: The art school that I went to was for graphics, and I didn't really take art history and hadn't been exposed to any of the work of the Surrealists. One day I happened upon a big Dalí book, and I was just amazed. I later took quite an interest in all of the Surrealists, and have now really gravitated to the work of Max Ernst. Ernst was really interested in the organic, and I just love the places he takes it. He serves as the most influential artist for me.

CONTACT ARTIST

ARTIST'S WEB PAGE