Matrix – Collab with Jonathan “Ollio” Josefsson & Valeria Montti Colque
Gothenburgs’ biggest ground painting, an extension of the exhibition “Crossroads”, Museum of World Culture, Gothenburg, Sweden. Started in September 2019, projected finish date June 1st 2020

Definition of Matrix: 
1.
the cultural, social, or political environment in which something develops.
2.
a mass of fine-grained rock in which gems, crystals, or fossils are embedded.

The motif in its entirety can be interpreted in various ways, for example it can be a gathering of artifacts floating around in the cosmos or objects placed on a display table, perhaps bits of patterned plastic floating around the water surface. The background is quite clear with simple large color fields, which creates a clear contrast with the detailed pattern islands.

We quickly realized that we wanted to work with several different pieces of pattern that are scattered on a background, like cells, planets or islands. Each island is a small crossroads in itself, on collision course with all other crossroads. New cultures arise, find each other, share, die out. We found an easy way to collaborate, where each artist could create their own images, which were then linked together in a larger common image. This facilitated the sketch work, as we could work individually in our own places and then build the image together like a collage.

This meant that we could use different pattern ideas on each island. The islands lie side by side but there is still no direct delimitation as the background makes everything flow together. Several of the motifs are directly inspired by the museum’s collections. In some cells, patterns come from places that would otherwise not cross, in others there are references to common motifs such as stars, mountains, animals and cycles of life. We have made some of our designs from our own visual worlds, in order to create an interesting mix between real objects and the artists’ fantasy worlds.

Paint used: AcryRoad ECO-TRACK