Christy Matson
Christy Matson is an interdisciplinary fiber artist known for her painterly, Jacquard-woven tapestries. Her work merges analog and technological modes of art production, expressing the unique yet interwoven histories of fine arts and fiber craft. She works back and forth between sketching, watercolor, paper collaging, analog weaving, and computer-aided loom work. Matson’s Jacquard loom allows her to improvise weft structures within pre-programmed warp settings. She is concerned with mitigating waste in the textile industry, thus her improvisations are often informed by the industrial scrap materials to which she has access.
Matson received her MFA from California College of the Arts (San Francisco) in 2005 and her BFA from the University of Washington in 2001. Recent solo exhibitions include “The Cloud” at Philip Martin Gallery, 2023, “Currents 38” at the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2022, “Crossings” at the Cranbrook Art Museum in 2019, and “Rock, Paper, Scissors” at the Long Beach Art Museum in 2018. Her work is collected by institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and the Smithsonian Museum’s Renwick Gallery. In 2012, she became a tenured associate professor of fiber at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She lives and works in Los Angeles.
Header image by Molly Haas.
