Z A R A- M A T T H E W S

1960
born London
1979-80
Goldsmiths College, London - Foundation
1980-83
Kingston Polytechnic, BA (Hons) Fine Art: Painting
1997
Royal College of Art, London - MA Printmaking

Collections

DLA Art Collection; The Royal College of Art; Victoria and Albert Museum; British Museum; Quod, London

Zara Matthews is a painter whose work explores notions of individuality, repetition and reproduction.
Continuing a lineage from Andy Warhol and Gerhard Richter, Matthews’ individually executed, photo-realistic images give the impression of having been reproduced mechanically, rather than is the case, by hand.

A group of back of head self portraits and portraits of children made in 1999 began a series of works which played with notions of the psychological
portrait - demonstrating how a sense of identity can be intuited as much as rendered within a visual image.

The major installation Fold - Red Hood 2001 used the repeated image of a cowled head to conjure up an almost medieval and monastic presence - the obscured faces producing a sense of disquiet and unease.

Matthews’ most recent project Genome 2003, a collaborative video and music project with composer Tansy Davies, used characters from the Tarot pack in a sequence of digitally manipulated images to depict the multi-faceted self.

Cloned Girl in Satin Anorak 2004 oil on linen 45 x 45cm each