"Made in China" is a new body of work by US artist Matt Kinney created during his two month residency at Boxes Art Museum. (The show opens on Friday, March 1st at Boxes Art Museum, galleries 4 and - . Located at Shunfeng Mountain Wetland Park, Shunde District, Foshan, China. The show runs until March - ) This latest body of work marks a huge transition for Kinney.
In "Made in China", Kinney takes objects that create our physical connection with the Earth and transforms them into unrecognizable creations that are both graphically inclined and experimental. A six hundred year old Boxwood log, acquired through the trade of one of his sculptures, becomes a carved axe. Scraps of used construction plywood are joined with flitches of Cocobolo wood to become an abstract assemblage while a discarded rubber speed brake found in a nearby village alleyway becomes a defining element in a free-standing sculpture
"Paint Bucket", for instance, features a used five gallon metal paint can sawn apart and reorganized using plywood, foam, paint and screws into a new dynamic shape. The original branding remaining on the object is the only mark identifying Kinney's sculpture as a formerly functional object. The upper half of the sculpture is built to create the idea of an inverted form. Kinney was inspired after seeing a horse hoof print on a trail in deep mud. A vacuum space created by an animal and the potential for that space as sculpture, seamlessly connected to the Earth’s surface. Kinney has plans in the near future to cast "Paint Bucket", to make and paint a limited edition of the original.
The artist’s relationship with China plays a huge role in this work. Objects sourced from roadways, alleys the park and through trade become the focal point of Kinney’s work. Assembled and installed at Boxes Art Museum, this work represents a cross of US and Chinese influences.
About the Artist: Matt Kinney (b. 1970) is a sculptor working in Newburgh, New York, USA. Born in Georgetown, Massachusetts, Kinney attended Pratt Institute as well as the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. He moved to the Hudson Valley in 2003 and has been creating work in and around the region ever since while exhibiting in Beacon, New York City, Hong Kong and beyond.
