dematran.history

Statement / Bio
An Assyrian established in San Francisco since 1989, Nilus de Matran was educated in London at the Architectural Association and studied under Zaha Hadid. Nilus de Matran’s artistic pursuit is abstraction; wholly self-referential, the subject of his art is picture-making and the exploration of the optical and psychological properties of color and light – the subtle interplay of color, light and space on our vision and emotion.

The work is about the process as much as the finished art piece – about the rituals of the art process: the vigor of the brush stroking the vibrant colors, the sensualistic peeling of the protective glued paper on the Plexiglas, the mystery in discovery of the resolved piece: the place where deliberation and improvisation fuse. With its hard, reflective yet translucide surface, the Plexiglas medium is a unique and mystifying support. It positions the pieces as independent of gravity; is the support the light shining through, the color, the reflection? The Plexiglas creates a clinical distance, yet it calls the viewer in its reflection, the reverberation where one sees oneself embraced by the dynamic colors and the expressive line quality. De Matran’s work conjures at once sensations of flight or ecstatic experiences; the image impact is vibrant and visceral, but the drama is smothered and the effects subdued. It stands as the simplification of a baroque concept, the distillation of an excessive display.